Song 3: Meeting the Maximum Ride
by KuraKuraNeko
Summary: They meet Maximum Ride, who Cat is very competitive with, and the final battle approaches. The romance and drama kicks up even better here! How can hate turn to love so easily?


_Song-_

_Meeting the Maximum Ride_

~Disclaimer! Corrector Yui, Kingdom Hearts, Maximum Ride, Hatsune Miku, Okage: Shadow King, Ouji boards, Legos, Billy the Exterminator, Harvest Moon, Rune Factory, Natsume, Ouran High School Host Club, Youtube, Axe, Bosley, Indiana Jones, Wal-Mart, Walt Disney, Inuyasha, or any of the songs in this story do not belong to me.

1: Attempted Murder?

I woke up sore, not hurting, just sore and lethargic.

Hmm, I'm guessing that's normal for a kid my age that has to deal with lots of stupid crap.

Kay, no recaps. I'm an evil soul, aren't I? Maybe you should read THE OTHER FLIPPING INSTALLMENTS BEFORE YOU THINK OF SKIPPING, HUH?

Sorry, went to bed at 1 a.m., woke up at 6 a.m. I'm really not a morning person.

Sioux was still sleeping. Why did I bring her from the plane, anyway? I don't need to be grabbing all the Expiriments in the world... Gosh.

I slid out of bed and went across the white hotel hallway to wake up IR and Xemnas. The plane flight to America was at 7...

Flip!

I burst into their room and shook IR. He sat up and yawned. "DRINK RESPONSIBLY!" I yelled at him. "THE FLIGHT'S IN AN HOUR!"

Xemnas was awake and drinking coffee. "No, I canceled it."

"Whaaat?"

"I figured we could stay in Paris for awile. I have some family here."

IR rubbed his eyes. "I thought we had to vanquish Grosser and Venus and Virus..."

"God knows what Yui's doing." I said and shook IR again.

"Nah, we need a break. Cat still can't fly." Xemnas looked casual, if not suprised or something. "And she still needs to learn some stuff."

"Wait, did you say that you had family here?" I almost choked on nothing.

He paused. "Son."

"Oh, yeah? Who's the mother?"

He choked on coffee. "Ktch! Um, some chick I met in a bar."

"What? You really are perverted, aren't you?" I thought. "Wait, why were you in America and he in Paris? What about the bombs? Is he okay? Where does he live? How old is he? Is he hot?"

IR, now fully consious, hit me. "Knock it off!"

"I wonder what Nightmare's doing. And the others. Where's the chick you 'saved' off the airplane? She scares me." Xemnas said.

"Sleeping. That's what I wanna do now, too."

"I want fast food." Xemnas said.

"I want a unicorn. Do I get one? No." I snapped suddenly. "I'm going out to see how much Paris is trashed. There was people all over with 'Kill the Humans' shirts. I want one."

"That's not nice!" Xemnas yelled as I stormed down the hallway and into the elevator.

Some stubby chick was following me.

"Sioux! Oh, God, you scared me." I patted her head.

And then collided with a blonde chick, about as tall as me.

I sat up and rubbed my head. "Watch it!"

She sat up and a coffee-colored chick grabbed her hand to pull her up.

Sioux handed me my hat.

"Fudge!" I yelled and put my hands on my head to cover my cat ears to the humans. Who knew, they might be Erasers.

Too late, she already saw and was curious. "I'm sorry... Um- " She sounded sort of depressed, lack of sleep? They were dirty and scratched up. Like, 4 of them.

"Um, goodbye." I said and nudged out of their way.

Awwwwkkkwaaaaaarrrrddd.

Zaix appeared, I saw his yellow eyes first. My yellow eyes.

The dark alley was secretive, but I felt as though I was being watched.

"Humph. Father, what do you want? I have work to do." He flipped his short, silver hair. My silver hair.

"Zaix, listen to me. I have a job for you."

"Why should I listen to you, or trust you? Why should I trust anyone in contact with the School? You know, I can't beleive you left me there. I escaped all by myself."

"Zaix Frederic Chopin! Listen to me. I want you to kill someone for me."

"Of course. That's what I do. What's the pay?"

"Humph. I see you havn't changed, even for your father." I crossed my arms, just like he was doing.

He got defensive. "What's the difference? You don't care about me! You left me behind at the School when you left! How should I do anything?" He yelled.

I turned my back on him. "Never mind." I paused. "And to show you I do care about you, you can to come back with me. I have a hotel room."

No answer.

But I knew that he was waiting for me, waiting for me in the shadows.

The streets were absolute trash. There was rock and rubble everywhere. Like a bomb went off.

Wait...

Lots of people said that there had been a bomb. Under a big stadium.

I shoved my hands into my pockets and shivered under the light drizzle of rain. I watched rescue people search under rubble. There were no people walking around besides the rescuers, everything was barren.

All of a sudden somone tapped my back.

I whirled around and saw IR.

You know, for some reason sometimes it doesn't feel right to call him IR. Mephisto sounds better.

He smiled. "I thought you were lonely."

"Yeah." We walked around some trash and sat on a half-broken bench, watching the people rumble around.

He held my hand, suprisingly. "Hey. I'm sorry."

I looked at him. He was staring at the concrete ground.

"I'm not good with feelings."

I'm dreaming. I gotta be dreaming. Mephisto isn't this way...

"...And I know that you've been through a lot." His face was blank, expressionless. His eyes just gazed at the ground.

I decided to speak up. "It's okay."  
>I felt so stupid. Sorry, no boy expierience at all. When you live in a dungeon and all you worry about is your date and time of suicide, you don't get much time with the guys.<p>

"Ano toki anata ni deatte utaukoto oshierareta... Sakai no ongaku gakon nanimo utsukushi ito hajemeteshitta."

_Vocaloid_. First word that popped into my little mind. Next I dunno what I was doing. "Dakedo anata wa boku igai no hito ni warai kaketeitane... Shizuka ni tsunoro kono kimochi dou shitara iindarou?"

"Masutaa, Masutaa? Boku dake wa tokubetsude wa naino? Ima no boku ni wa rikai dekinai... Masutaa, Masutaa? Anata wo boku dakenomono ni shitai. Minikui omoi tomaranai..."

I could understand the Song, but I couldn't. I could Sing it without understanding.

And that made me weak.

I stopped and observed the cracks in the ground, my face red from what the Song meant, although I couldn't tell what it meant at the same time. Mephisto kept on Singing, though.

It was over before I had even finished thinking. IR looked up at the grey sky. "Uninstall... A Singer is an upgraded version of a Corrector. Instead of using magic, the Singer draws power from a Song and it can manipulate the enemys' minds, or ect..."

I got up in a rush. "I'mcoldgoodbye!"

God, I'm starting to act like IR, rushing and running away every time someone makes a move on me.

He stared blankly while I ran away, and Sioux appeared out of nowhere to follow me.

I slammed the door behind me. There was no desk attendant. Weird.

"Why'd you run away?" Sioux asked.

"I was cold."

And then I stopped cold. I swear, the shadows were moving.

Then a knife was flung from the dark, looming shadows into my throat. Sioux gasped.

I yanked it out after a dizzy feeling. "What...?"

I was totally unharmed.

A smooth, hansome figure stepped from the shadows. His hair was moved to one side, there were scars all over his face and arms. He looked older than me, 14?

He looked like a mini-younger-Xemnas.

Wait- how could Xemnas be around 20 if he had a son?

?

!

He looked astonished. "But you're-"

I assummed he was my tried-to-murderer. "Well, hello to you, too! Knives aren't toys, for your information. It's not nice to throw them at people."

Sioux went over and kicked him in the shin.

He ran out the fancy Franch doors, slammed into IR, and kept on running.

IR's face was redder than before, as if he had only noticed what he said to me. "Waaauuugggggggghhhhhh!" He yelled and pushed the button on the elevator furiously.

"Too bad, I'm going with you."

If he blushed any more he was going to die of cuteness.

"Whhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaatttt?" I yelled at myself and it was my turn to blush when Sioux glanced at me.

The elevator beeped and opened. IR ran out.

"Your just like Kaito, IR!" I yelled after him.

"Kkkttcchhhh?"

He slammed into Xemnas.

"What's going on? Is there blood- oh, um."

"Hi." I said. I turned to IR. "Go hide in the emo mushroom corner, Tamaki!"

"How do you-"

I put my hand up to him. "I'm not the one who's romantic, Romeo."

He covered his mouth and ran into his room.

"What's up with him?" Xemnas looked at me, up and down. Pervert.

I shrugged. "It's a secret." I whispered. I poked Xemnas. "Someone tried to kill me in the lobby."

"Huuuuuuuuuh? No, really."

"Really."

"Then why are you still alive?" He asked.

"I dunno. Maybe I have 9 lives, like a cat."

He pondered and yelled, "That's it!" And ran into the room like IR.

Boys are strange creatures.

2: Mourning

Why did they all have to leave?

And not take us with them?

I picked up a chair and flung it at an Eraser. It roared, and thwacked me across the room.

"Nightmare! I can't hold them off!" Hawkdream yelled to me. The fire brushed against his face, leaving burns. He was bloody all over. "Angel is unconsious- maybe dead!"

No! I had to lead them- a refuge- I couldn't have them dying on me.

A leader does not allow death.

The Erasers attacked- swarms of them. More than I'd ever seen in my whole entire lifetime. They started a forest fire and the flames engulfed everything.

I even felt the weariness. All I wanted to do was fall down and die.

Maybe that's what happened.

"I wonder what the Correctors and Nightmare and Yui and Hawkdream and Angel are doing." I sighed to Xemnas.

He was doing some weird thing with his netbook, but wouldn't let me see.

And- get this- he was wearing glasses!

I mean, not the stupid nerd type. But the sexy ones you see anime vampire guys wearing.

I must be wrong to crush on a guy with a son.

Oh, God! Maybe pervert-ness is contagious!

I pushed that horrifying thought away and studied Xemnas's eyes. They were a golden yellow, beautiful. They stared intently at the screen.

"I'm sure they're fine." He snapped me out of my daydreaming.

"Xemnas, your eyes are pretty." I said.

He almost jumped through the ceiling. "Oh- um- yes, thank you. Then maybe it's true..." He mumbled on and on.

Then I got a horrible pain in my head. It burned, searing through my thoughts. "Gah!"

If all heck could break into my stay at Paris, France, it would happen then.

My eyes screened through the e-mail. X-mas was a worthful agent. I read it out loud to myself. "The report is done. Expiriment 13 does have 9 lives, as of presumed by the reports. Also, like the reports, affection has started to over take it's mind. Almost every man with us it adores in some way, just now it said it likes my eyes: proof. Have you carried out your side of the plan yet? 1435:13"

I clicked reply and thought. Only then did I type. "Yes, The other Expiriments have been captured/destroyed. Only one survived, barely, and we sent it back to be tested more on. We sent it to the facility in Paris, France, and will be sending the Erasers to your hotel right now."

I was hit in the head by huge claws.

Action mode!

I swerved by the Eraser and kicked my leg under his feet so he tripped. He countered and pushed me into the wall, leaving a plaster-mold replica of me.

We had been in the boy's room, IR sulking in the corner like Tamaki. Sioux kicked down the door.

Holy crap.

She started punching and kicking with such force I was scared. IR even started fighting, screaming, "I wish I had my claymore so badly now!", and Xemnas sort-of disappeared.

I searched for him while Erasers started clogging the room. Maybe 40-50, way to much capacity for the room, even though Sioux was mowing down Erasers like snowblowers.

Inside my teeny little head I was yelling, "No, not again! I can't go back to the School!"

I was an unlucky chick, though.

3 against 50 is a pretty dead match, so we got blindfolded and tied and knocked out.

I put my hands up against bars.

Bars?

I rubbed my eyes and yawned and stretched.

No- I couldn't stretch.

But wasn't that a nightmare?

"Neko- Neko-no...no... I couldn't... I couldn't save them." Nightmare's voice rang like bells.

"Nightmare?" I whispered.

"Where are we?" IR asked.

I was now awake, flipping out, and ready to kill someone. I pounded the bars and kicked and pushed. Cages? Dog crates?

Heeeeeeeeeeellllllllllloooooo? Why dog crates? I mean, I'm at least 60% human, why not a house?

"We're at a School." An familiar girl said.

"You're the one I bumped into..." I said brilliantly.

"Max. Maximum Ride."

"Cat." I said. IR was next to me, even though it was pitch black I could see he was freaking out more than I was. "Where's Xemnas?"

Sioux was on the other side. "I saw him go out the door. Over there." She pointed a ways away.

"No! Xemnas- why Xemnas?" I yelled.

I could hear Nightmare sobbing.

What was missing from the picture here? Hawkdream? Angel?

Maybe they escaped.

Then I saw the door open, and I shrank back into the shadows. He walked to my crate.

A muscular man in a white coat with yellow eyes and silver, long hair was looming over me. "Cat. I'm sorry."

The Correctors stared at the destructed castle. It was burnt all over, falling apart, broken, and trashed. Holes gaped from the sides of it, furniture was thrown, glass shattered... It was completely done for.

The castle was gone.

Un-livable, charred.

Gone.

Dead bodies of Erasers littered the floor and burnt grass outside.

And inside they found the limp, lifeless bodies of Angel and Hawkdream.

I couldn't speak. Couldn't move.

Nothing.

Xemnas? Why Xemnas! Why was he my traitor?

He unlatched the cage like a gentleman and held out his hand. "I'm only doing what's best for you."

I looked at him in disbelief. And then it hit me.

Why would he just know everything in science?

Why would he disappapear out of nowhere?

Why would he have so much money?

And why did his gaze seem wolflike, trancelike?

He was a whitecoat. Scientist.

Traitor.

I pushed his hand away and tried to intimidate him.

It was pathetic.

He's like, 4 inches taller than me.

Grr.

"This way." With no expression, not looking at IR, Nightmare, or Sioux, he led me out of the dank basement and into the blinding hall lights. Walking into an office, he sat in a chair and gestured to the one across from him. I reluctantly sat down.

He better have something good to say.

"Thank you." He shifted his sexy glasses. "You are going to have a lot of suprises."

"Oh, like I already don't." I snapped.

He sighed. "Let's get this done with. I was part of Project Tsubasa. Many winged Expiriments were made. You have parents."

My eyes widened. Parents?

"They donated you to the School for money."

Some dang good parents. Tch.

"To enhance you, scientsts were creating a potion. The chemical that causes obsessive-compulsive disorders and serotonin- mostly known as '_love_ '- were accidentaly added to the mix. If we were to seperate the chemicals the avian and feline DNA would be scarred and distorted. We could not make a whole different potion..."

I was shocked. "What...?"

He held his head. "In short-phrases, almost every muscular man you meet-from age 12 to age 40- would either be attracted to you or you attracted to him."

I was silent.

"You were supposed to be created as a perfect Expiriment. Absolutely perfect, in all ways. Physically, almost- emotionally- no. Not at all."

I started crying, silently to myself. Why... I'm a pervert? Cougar?...

"I had to bring you back to this School." His voice was a whisper.

My feelings... Are distorted?

Shaking at what he had said, feeling like someone took black ice and through it into my heart and soul, and probably scarred for life (again), I was led back.

I didn't take in what was happening around me, what Sioux and IR and Nightmare were doing, nothing. I just sulked.

I think they were trying to talk to me, but I was in a whole different world.

"No... no... not... tool. I'm... a person... Not a pervert." I mumbled quietly to myself.

Meanwhile IR was trying to wake me from my daymare. "Cat! Cat, what'd they do to you? Hello? Caaaaaaaaaaaatttt!"

"Parents... parents suck. Want... parents... Pervert. Cougar..." I trailed on and on, sounding like a ghost.

IR apparently gave up and just listened. I wasn't aware of it, though. And started talking about what else was going on in my mind.

"IR... funny... IR? IR!" All of a sudden I was shocked and aware of everything.

"?"

"IR!" I guess that was the only thing I could say. "IR! IR!"

"What?"

I so much wanted to run to him, hug him, cry on his shoulder, complain to him, and then be critical about changing his shirt from my tears. I wanted him...

And every other flipping guy! I screamed mentally at myself.

"IR..."

"What? What'd they do to you?" His words rang memories from when we'd first met... Said so many times.

"IR..."

"It's okay."

"IR, no... Don't you leave me. Ever."

"Never."

"Never..." I recited.

He turned to look across the room to Sioux. "How do we get out of here with 2 traumatized Expiriments?"

"I don't know..."

"Can you not smash everything?"

"It's true that I'm strong, but nothing against nearly thousands of Erasers."

"We can't quit."

Sioux whirled to see Maximum. "Right."

"How, then?" IR asked.

"Find a wa-" Max started.

IR tried to suddenly reach to me through the bars. "Cat! Cat, transform! Sing!"

I shook my head. "No... Spirit."

"Nooooo! Initialize! Transform!" He yelled franticly.

"Don't wanna."

"You have to! Think- they'll probably kill you!"

"Good." I mumbled.

"Not good! Not good! Virus is still out there- and Venus! You have to!"

"No point."

He calmed down. "I need you."

"No." I said.

"Cat-" He started.

Then something inside my heart-soul- stirred. It wasn't me, but it was me speaking. Me acting. Like something had taken over my body and controlled me like a puppet. I couldn't think about it or do anything about it.

My fingers nimbly waved over the bars, the lock. In graceful movements I was performing some type of ritual I had no idea of. The movements seemed to be polite, gesturing. Graceful.

I couldn't see it. I could feel it. But my eyes were closed.

I heard a sharp click and felt a burst of power.

Slamming out of the cage I yelled at the sky, even though we couldn't see it. I heard other clicks and gasps.

Throwing my hands in the air I yelled, "Muahahahhaaahaaaaaa!"

... Huh?

I bet all the others were freaked out, too.

I flung my hand across the door from the dark room and laughed again. It creaked open, or at least I thought it did.

You know, I love it every time I get caught, put back in the School, and bust out after entering an emo mood swing in some weird, crazy sort of way.

It's just really fun.

Well, running through the halls, punching white coats on the way, too, and not knowing WHAT THE HECK you're doing is fun, too.

And while I was running blindly I thought, what the heck? Let's kidnap someone!

That's fun, too.

And who else perfect to kidnap and interregate than... The traitor that was conviniently (For some reason I could sense, I mean, I _do _have super-human-cat-bird powers. Duh.) located near me.

I grabbed him and dragged him to...

A window?

"Nononononnnnooooooo!" I yelled at myself.

First of all, if you have short-term memory loss, I can't fly. Dang Virus. AND I have mah buddehs escahpahn wif meh. Duh.

I don't want them to splatter.

Well, most the time.

I thudded on the ground.

3: Maximum Ride

"I guess transforming wasn't necessary."

"You are pathetic. I cannot beleive that you kidnapped me just because you have no intellectual science knowledge."

"Yay! Violence!"

"What? No- violence is not good!"

"Tacos are."

"May we worry about something other than tacos?"

"WE? You are the one that got us into this! Traitor! I thought that you were my best friend!" IR practically screamed.

I rubbed my head as I sat up. "Yeah." I mumbled.

"Can we stop arguing?" Said Maximum.

IR and Xemnas looked at me, then at Max, then at each other. "No!"

"It was just a secret." Xemnas yelled.

"You tried to kill Cat! You were all along! You used me!" IR yelled. "You're with Virus and Venus!"

"Was. Cat kidnapped me."

I looked up. There was a window only 4 feet off the ground.

Am I melodramatic or what?

"Can we talk about WHAT THE HECK I just did?" I yelled at them.

IR counted on his fingers. "You were sad, then laughed evilly, used magic, and jumped out of the window. Then you fainted. Okay! Back to yelling."

I sighed, and got up and went to Xemnas. I puched him, and punctuating each punch was a word. Not very nice words, either. I'll leave the mean words out. "Pervert! Jerk! Killer! Jerk! Meanie! Jerk! Stupid! Retard! I! Hate! You! Die!"

...

They were all mean, weren't they?

Sorry.

His face was bleeding all over and during my rage he had fallen to the ground and was coughing up blood.

I am overly violent at times.

But he flipping deserved it!

"Flipping whitecoat! Traitor!" I leaned over him with my foot on his back.

Female/male domination, am I right?

Nonononnooooo! It was just a joke, I'm no perv or creepy stalker!

... (Having second thoughts) ...

Nope, I'm sure!

IR looked horrified, as always.

You'd think he'd get used to the blood and violence. Nope.

Xemnas's white coat was not very white anymore. It was bloody and red.

Maximum spoke up. "That's enough. Don't kill him."

I felt snappy and violent and sad and happy and angry and stabby and punchy at the same time. I don't like the teenage years. "Oh, heroine! Yes! Must obey your command, officer! Yeah- no. Guess what- this isn't a sappy, romantic book, okay? The good people don't always win. The bad people don't always just get sent to jail or do community service for 5 or more years. In my world, you kill or die."

"I know what you feel like-" Max started.

"No, you don't! You were treated different- at a different School! You didn't grow up in a dungeon chained to walls! You weren't blinded by lights when the whitecoats dragged you to be Expirimented on! Your flipping treatment would be like paradise for me! Listen- you have not gone through what this man has done to me. How much of a role model he was for me. I wanted to be like him. I wanted to be sweet and gentle and knowlegable at the same time. And them to have that ripped from you. To have him be one of _them_- to rip out your hopes, dreams, sacrifices. This man and I _kissed_ to save someone. Then he's with the School. Trust me. _You do not know what I feel and think about. We are nothing the same_."

I could sense IR blush.

Did I think that that would blow Max down? Yeah.

Did it?

No.

And I thought, why haven't I read the books?

Oh, yeah! I hardly know how to read and write!

Duh.

Back to story.

Someone gather the perverts and toss them popcorn! Chick fight!

Try to imangine this scene: You have a hot perverted guy coughing up blood with a hot tanuki watching him. Then in the backround you have a winged nekoboy crying his guts out and an odd winged catgirl watching 2 chicks try to kill each other in amusement.

Is it pretty?

When both of us were bloody and the grass was no longer green but red IR yelled at us. "Will you stop it?"

Here are my exact thoughts:

Right. Run away. Okay. Um. No. IR not mommy. Maybe- no! Gay! No! Um... Punch? Kick? Stab with pencil? No pencil. Stab with stick? No stick. Stab with- no. Romance. Kiss. Something dramatic. Pervert! No! Violence!

I know. You cannot handle my superior mind processing.

Whatever. I just need to run away.

Teleport!

"IR, gimme a teleportation Song!" I yelled.

He jumped. "I don't know. It has to come out of your mind."

I called him a word that wasn't very nice. Then I told him he sucked.

"That's not nice."

"Shut up! I don't need to be told what to do! I can't be in charge of people! I'm only a child! Grrr! You all suck! &*%$#!"

"Back off, I didn't say anything." IR held his hands up.

"Male Voice! You suck!" I yelled.

"Male Voice? I was going to help you."

"I doesn't not needn't helped!" I yelled.

"I'd still think that you would. I could help you in many ways."

"Then you're a pervert rapist! Go away, I already own one!" I screamed.

Xemnas coughed. "Own?"

"Oh, but IR might like to see me."

IR tried to talk but I interrupted. "IR's grounded! He doesn't get to see any friends or play video games for a week!"

"What? Since when do you have authority over me?"

"I am not your enemy." A bubble of shiny appeared in front of me. A man with long, straight as a line blonde hair stepped out of it. He kneeled in front of me and took my hand.

He kissed it.

"Grosser?"

IR zoomed over and pushed him. "Mine! My property!"

"What? Since when do you have authority over me?" I mimicked.

He blushed and ignored me. "Go! Go away! Why are you here? Virus sent you! To kill us! Mercanary!"

'Grosser' stood up. "I beleive in chivalry. I am not trying to 'hit' on your wife. I never thought you would find love."

IR jumped. "W-wife? We're not even together! I-I'm just trying to protect her! Shouldn't you be with Anti?"

Grosser laughed. "Anti? Anti loves Conrol. And I think that Miss Cat would like Syncro better than you."

"How dare you?"

"Why don't you ask her?"

"No!"

"That is sad. You do not show your feelings. Poor manners."

IR's face was red. All of a sudden he sweeped me off my feet and into an embrace. "Oh, yeah? What about this?"

You can guess what happened next.

That's right! I shoved my thumb into the pressure point in his neck and made him faint!

Ha!

No... I'm just kidding.

Unfortunetly.

He kissed me.

Grosser was watching in amusement.

I pushed IR away and looked at him like he just slapped me. "How dare you? You kiss me from peer pressure? Jerk!"

He looked as if he was a balloon and I threw a needle at him.

Grosser chuckled. "You did not have to go that far. Now, we can all transport in my bubble! Yes! It is fun, shall you not?"

By the time we teleported whitecoats were streaming all over.

The only reason I went with Grosser is because I like chivalric men. ONLY. REASON.

Which is odd, because I thought that Grosser was the thing I was suppossed to kill or something... Initialize?

No- killing is more fun.

I opened my eyes. We were standing in front of a charred mess.

Xemnas's eyes widened. "No..."

Grosser frowned. "I am sorry about your castle."

Xemnas feel to his knees. "My records, documents, documents... My files! No! Nooo! There all gone! Gone! Everything... My money..."

I put my hands on my hips, copying Maximum. She needs to know that she _cannot _lead my group. I'm better than her. She's childish, I'm the adult. She needs to know who's in charge here. And that would be me. Me and only me. I deepened my voice and said with my chest puffed out, trying to compare my bust to hers without laughing, "We need to rebuild. Or live somewhere else."

Many pairs of eyes stared at me like I had 2 heads.

Maximum stepped forward, out of line with everyone else. "No, we need a hotel. Some place to stay."

I scowled at her. Look at her! I thought. She's puny! Stupid! I am better than her!

Grosser pulled Xemnas up by his wrists and stuck something in his pocket. "Your data."

Xemnas stared at him. They were about as tall as each other. "Corrector..."

Grosser chuckled. "I am not a Corrector. I control all of Com-Net! I am the head of everything! I can access anything I so please."

"My data... Is on here..."

"Yes."

"Thank you."

Meanwhile I stood next to Maximum like a sargeant in the military and puffed out my cheeks and chest and my arms were like steel at my side. I folded my wings tightly against my back and my ears straight up.

She didn't notice me. Everyone else did, though.

I had enough of it. I poked Maximu- no- Minimum hard and yelled, "Who told you that you could jump into my mission?"

"I didn't say I would! I figured that a _little kid like you couldn't handle a mission like this, anyway, much less an Expiriment_!"

I backed away from her slowly with my head down. "Little kid, huh?" I whipped my wings out and prayed that they would work this time. "Let's see what you think when I solve things _all by my little-kid-self_!"

I shot up into the air like a bullet without any stride in the takeoff.

Let's see what they think when I kill Virus.

All by myself.

4: The Final Show-Down

Paris.

I was there in a second, it seemed like.

Even though I probably flew for 5 days straight, adrenaline was the only thing I needed, only thing that fueled me.

Maximum Ride was my enemy. The only thing that compared me.

Nothing else was worth anything of me at all.

I am the best.

The maximum.

And her?

Minimum.

She is minimum. The least. Worst.

Rocks are better than her.

I passed the Eiffel Tower, staring down at the glittering lights. It was nighttime.

I watched mimes and people walking and people eating snails and mimes.

They're pretty cool.

_Note to self: Future career- mime_

I kept on flying and flying and didn't give a care about what I was going to do when I got to the School, or how I was going to get back, or if this is another dramatic scene where I almost die and then some character from my past comes and saves me at the last moment, or why I have a lot of stamina.

I scanned the area. No School yet.

Flying is pretty cool. It's like your an airplane, soaring with no worries of arrival time.

I felt the wind blowing through the almost-healed hole in my wing.

I sighed.

I looked down. The School! Where did the time go?

It was pretty peaceful. I mean, it's been 5 days since we escaped. And I spent those 5 days flying. Ugh, how was I not tired?

I decided to land across the street, behind a fast-food resturuant. So they wouldn't see me. Like, would I just land on the lawn and say, "'Sup?"? No. I'm not _that _stupid. Gosh.

I landed and folded my wings. Stealth. Right.

I slinked along the wall and turned to look at the School. Still peaceful.

Then I collapsed. Tired much? My bones ached, my wings felt like gelatin, and my mind was fizzled well-done.

The 6-year-old child inside me longed to beleive that I just developed a power. A power like Nightmare.

My power to fly for days and not become tired until I landed.

Which that was pretty much crap.

I mean, why fly forever and then die of exhaustion?

It's stupid.

I slowly got up and limped around the corner. The air smelled of grease and cheeseburgers. Food. Yum.

Ugh, I hate distractions!

I pressed myself against the wall and went onward. Slow. Stealthy. Sneaky.

The wall ended and veered toward the front. Dang it! I thought it was going to go on forever!

I felt like I was going to evaporate. I was more tired than after fighting the Erasers when we got caught again.

It's a never-ending cycle, isn't it?

I walked slowly, trying to look like a pedestrian. Crossing the street. To go to heck.

Some screwed-up pedestrian.

Okay, plan. Plan. Plan. No plan. Crap.

I'll make a plan! I'm brilliant!

Okay, go in, make a scene, kill people, kill Erasers-

That's as far as I got when I stepped onto the grass on the School's property and some huge net was flung over me, knocking me down.

I tried to claw at it but it was over tight, my face was to the grass, and I couldn't move any of my limbs.

I hate when they capture me. It's so not cool.

Panic set into me.

I struggled and arched my back and tried to move but it was no use.

They had the flipping property booby-trapped. Crap.

If I had a whip I could be Indiana Jones! Dum-da-dum-dum-doo-do-doo, dum-da-dum-dum, doo-do-doo-doo-doo!

It's a catchy theme song.

See, I'm optimistic. I always try to look on the bright side. And the bright side is that...

I'll get back to you on that later.

"My, my, my. Look at what I found. If it isn't 13. I see your plans failed."

"You didn't even give me enough time to make a flipping plan!" I snapped.

"You are just what I want." Jeb said.

"You're too old, you rapist!" I yelled. "Go find some other chick that doesn't have wings!"

"I haven't gone that mad yet."

I growled and studied the grass.

I could hear him walking back and forth. "You see, I won't kill you yet. Master Virus wants to see you. Then he will use you to lure the other pathetic beings." I heard the cracking of knuckles. "And Maximum Ride."

He walked closer to me and grabbed a handful of my hair through the net. He pulled my head up. "You were never meant to be."

The Erasers threw me into an office. It was big and spacey and looked futuristic.

My hands were in handcuffs.

I turned around and kicked the door only to find it locked. "No..." I breathed. I looked back.

A figure with greenish, spikey hair was studying me.

_Virus_.

"You were meant for love, yes?"

I winced at his question.

He walked over to me.

I pressed against the door.

"No, I'm not that type of person. I do have questions, though." He pulled his robe/cape thingy back to reveal a sword, shining in the low light. "And if I don't get them answered, maybe this will finally be used."

"Why are we following her? For all we know she could be dead." Xemnas said.

"How dare you? I know Cat."

"What's the plan?" Syncro grabbed my shoulder.

I turned around. "The final transformation: Sutasuta Form!"

"Sutasuta? But only you and Grosser can make it!"

"What? Don't you trust him?" I asked.

Syncro blinked. "Unlike you, I am not naive. I don't give trust out like presents."

I glared at him. "_8 shooting stars fall, but in the future 13 rise and plummet to destruction._"

Follow spoke. "8? Angel and Hawkdream make 10... They already fell."

"There are still 3 more to complete the profecy." Yui said.

"Nightmare has to die, too." I gripped the pendant on my neckalace.

"That leaves 2 more." Xemnas informed. "Why must they all die?" He fell to his knees. "Why did I make them all die? If i hadn't knocked the serotonin... They wouldn't have to all die! It's my fault!"

"I can't say it wasn't." I said.

"IR... No..."

I turned away. "I don't like to tell lies."

We had just got off the long, delayed flight from the private jet. 5 days. It was delayed a loooooong time by the stupid flight attendants.

"I just have to stop Cat. She doesn't know what Virus can do to her." I murmered.

I looked proudly at my new piece of work.

Breaking her was hard, though. The hardest I've done before.

"Master Virus." She said, in a trance. Long gashes lined her arms, face, and wings. Blood seeped from the deep cuts. "When are they coming?"

"Now. Now they are." I smirked at the one-way window. Those fools. Grosser cannot stop me.

Venus opened my door. "Virus. I see you broke her. I heard her from the other side of the School." She grimaced at the scarlet blood spattering the room. "Wow."

I smiled at Venus. "When I was with Grosser I learned a lot of things. When he used Haruna, I studied. But I use force, not emotions. Emotions are useless."

"Huh." She mumbled.

Cat was staring at us blankly. I knew that she wasn't Cat anymore. She was my No Shi o Banto o Ga. Cause of Death Servant.

No Shi o Banto o Ga.

I walked with triumph right to the School in Paris.

"Is it a good idea just to storm right up?" Peace asked.

Sioux kicked him. "We're saving Cat! Traitor!"

Xemnas hung his head.

I tuned out their quarreling and tried to figure out a way in. Door? No. Window? Barred. Wall? Peace won't make the weapon. But...

Grosser put a hand on my shoulder. "Chivalry."

"Tch! Chivalry?" I smirked. "Why be like that when you can shoot stuff?" I whipped out my rifles from my belt and attacked the closest window. Glass shot everywhere.

They all stared as I blowed the smoke off the rifles. "Didn't think I had it in me, huh?" I said. "Suprise."

Wings beat overhead. "They are here."

I stared up and hoped to see Cat, but instead I saw what Virus had created.

Cat was mottled with blood and her eyes were distant, unseeing.

I knew this would happen. "I didn't come in time..." I murmered.

She landed on top of the building. "Master Virus wants me to kill you."

5: Star

Readying myself as I sensed Grosser tense, we yelled in unision, "Sutasuta transformation final power!"

Cat laughed a mindless, humorless laugh.

Then she shocked me.

Her pleading voice said, "No... Stop it... hurts..."

Virus materialized behind her. "No Shi o Banto o Ga! Do not plead! Attack, no mercy!"

Why doesn't it work?

Yui tapped my shoulder. "Use your rifles."

"You didn't think I knew that?" I snapped. "I can't shoot Cat!"

"You can shoot Virus." Yui said.

"You blonde!" Sioux screamed and kicked her in the shin.

"I can't shoot someone!" I yelled.

I flinched as Sioux looked at me. "You are a warrior! Man up, wimpy!"

"Warrior..." I murmered.

Xemnsas swore and said, "Gimme the flipping rifles, _. Unlike you, I'm pretty screwed that they burnt MY FLIPPIN' CASTLE DOWN!" He increasingly got louder. He violently took the rifles away and aimed.

"Don't hit Cat!" I yelled and shook his muscular arm.

"That's exactly what I'm trying to do." I gasped at him. Was he still a traitor? "If snapping her out of this takes another hole in her wing, that's fine for me. And she still has, I think, 4 lives left."

He aimed with both and started shooting like those R-rated Hollywood movies.

Cat had a pistol. That's all.

And she was up against Xemnas, King of Violence.

Sioux is Queen.

Aparently Cat was in too much of a trance to notice what the heck she was going against.

I closed my eyes and clenched a fist across my chest. I decided to make a Warrior's Vow. "_I will protect Cat with my life._"

That flipping Virus! I shivered at the rememberance of him. No- he wasn't a rapist- (Thank God) but he slashed me into a trance.

I don't remember half of it, and I'll spare you the screaming and pain and torture.

Let's just say it wasn't pleasant, and now my face and arms will scar. So my dream of becoming a model is over. I guess it never really started.

Now, I was a prisoner inside my body.

I couldn't hear or talk or move or anything.

It was like you turned a T.V. on with it's power button, not the remote, and it was on mute. And you couldn't find the flipping remote.

And that's when you buy a universal one!

Except I was no where near a Wal-Mart. Which really sucked.

I could see, though. See the nightmare unfolding around my world.

I knew I had to die. That's what would fix this whole ordeal. It would fix the problem I caused. I didn't belong in this era, I as a mistake, I wasn't supposed to be here. I didn't want to, either. All this crap I had to deal with is tiring.

God, I would kill for a pancake.

So I just cuddled into the emo corner inside my heart and watched the dramatic scene like a movie.

Xemnas was shooting at me. I knew I shouldn't have pervert-napped that traitor.

Nightmare was staring with his wings out, ready to spring as if something was trying to get him. I wished I could have all his memories.

Sioux stared at me in despiration, talking, trying to will me to stop. Trying to get me back to myself.

The Correctors watched in horror. The sad thing is that I don't even know them well.

Grosser was talking to Xemnas. Encouraging? Tch.

Yui was watching IR with interest. Please let myself kill her, I thought.

IR was holding his fist across his heart and closing his eyes. I wish I could love him.

Great, this whole thing has made me gushy. Ugh... Stupid serotonin. Stupid Xemnas. Stupid School.

_IR is no different than any other guy. _I told myself selfishly. _I like every guy I see. Why do I try to treat him different?_

A familiar-looking man slipped into view. I knew him, but I didn't. His face looked similar.

Everyone swung around to look at him except Xemnas. Their faces had shocked expressions. IR raced to him and hugged him.

The Correctors all gathered around him.

I kept shooting at them while Virus willed me on.

It was a short embrace, and they went back to dodging and crying or whatever the heck they were doing. IR stayed with the old figure and pointed to me, talking. The old man nodded and replied, he seemed happy, like he had a solution.

He looked directly at me while his piercing eyes took me into a trance far more powerful than Virus's. I felt myself fall to my knees and scream in terror, as the paranormal trance left me and I could hear and move again, although numbly.

Virus stared in horror and disappeared through a portal that sliced the air and space. People flooded out of the School, panicking, and melted into Paris's wonders.

I studied the roof as my senses came back slowly.

Xemnas blew smoke off the rifles and mumbled a swear word. "I wanted to practice more.

That broke the omnious silence and the bad guys were gone, everything was solved, I could live in peace.

Nightmare took me into a tight embrace and flew back down to the holed, bullet shell littered ground.

People swarmed over me. But the old, weird guy stayed still.

Completely still.

I pushed the blurry people away and tried to focus on the elder. "What...?"

IR pulled me up by my hand and gestured to Old Guy. "Meet Professor Inukai."

Then IR-no- Mephisto kissed me. It was happy and releived, not jealous. He wasn't trying to prove anything but that he loved me. I reluctantly broke away to study Professor Inukai, breathing hard.

He smiled. "Hello."

Mephisto kept his arm around my shoulder. He squeezed it.

I looked up at him. He'd gotten taller. "Who's... he?"

"He is the ringleader! He started everything- he created Com-Net and the Correctors and Grosser! He's also-"

Inukai broke into Mephisto's confusing sentence. "I'm your father, Cat."

My focus broke. I did have a father... This old guy?

He laughed. "No, I am not that old."

I staggared out of the tanuki's grip. I felt eyes burn into me.

"Hmm..." I fell into Professor Inukai's arms. "Father."

Mumbles broke into cheer. Mephisto laughed. Sioux joined the family's hug. Nightmare tried to hold Yui's hand. Yui pulled away and whispered, "Shun is my only!" The Correctors cheered and welcomed Inukai back. Even Xemnas shouted with joy. Grosser looked content.

I broke away from my new father and looked at the darkening spring sky. "We... won? Didn't we?"

Xemnas held his hands in the air. "Yes! And it was without need of the falling stars!"

I felt my energy return. I jumped and yelled, "We won!"

And this time I was the one in need of saving.

6: Growing Relationships

"Where do we live now?" I asked Xemnas wearily.

"My castle was burnt down. But I have a spare." He focused on inspecting me. "Can you move your arm?"

I wiggled it. "A spare? You talk like it's a bag of chips." I had some of my spunk back.

We had taken shelter in a hotel. Apparently Xemnas carries at least 1 million dollars in checks with him. He's odd that way.

IR sat next to me on a bed, unfazed by his sudden move earlier. Every time I flinched because something hurt, he held tighter to my knee. What was up with him?

"It's a backup. I don't install fire and security alarms because no one would ever find my castle and because I like my privacy." He paused. "Can I touch the scratches on your arm?"

I held up my guard. Who knows if he's still in contact with an American School? "Yeah." I said.

Xemnas mumbled to himself as I tried to relax and recollect my thoughts.

Yeah, it hurt, but if IR held on any tighter to me I was going to lose a leg. Gosh.

"It has a rollerblading area." Xemnas suddenly poked my arm. "That hurt?"

I jumped. "Yes!"

Xemnas went to touch again, but IR smacked him away. "Knock it off!"

Xemnas looked suprised, but it turned into a laugh. "I'm only trying to make sure she's okay, you don't have to be overprotective, warrior."

I didn't see the smallest blush in IR's face. He was serious.

I made my voice sound reassuring. "Hey, it doesn't hurt. Let Xemnas do what he has to do."

The warrior looked stiffly at me then retreated. "Hm." He mumbled.

Xemnas grinned and hummed a tune.

The professor opened the door to my room (Note that Xemnas gave me my own suite as a reward, I don't know why. There were 2 other bigger suites: one for the boys, one for the girls.) and whispered, "Hi."

IR nodded and kept staring intently at Xemnas, occasionaly saying, "Watch it.", "Careful!", or "Don't!".

Inukai sat on the other side of me. "Are you okay?" He said fatherly.

"Yeah." I said, bored.

"Face?" Xemnas said. I felt IR stiffen.

I guess having another man touch my face gingerly is not a good thing.

I wondered why IR would even care about an ugly, scarred face though. I was ruined.

"Xemnas." Father said.

Xemnas looked up from where he was kneeling. "Hm?"`

"Good job. You did good bringing IR to this world and the Correctors."

Xemnas's face turned red. He wasn't used to praise. "Thanks." He got back to work.

I could literally feel IR's fury. He had a problem with Xemnas checking me over.

Xemnas got up and said, "Done. You need to rest." He left.

Father patted my head before leaving. "Good job."

"I was worried about you." IR confessed. "Didn't it hurt? What did Virus do to you? Are you okay now? Do you want me to stay? Should I leave?" I was overwhelmed with questions.

"One at a time!" I said and I leaned against him. "I don't remember what happened... What did?"

His eyes darkened. "Virus put you in a trance. You were shooting with a gun and weren't... yourself."

I paused. "I couldn't hear or talk or anything. I could only see."

"Xemnas was trying to shoot you to knock you out of it. He's sad that he betrayed us."

"That reminds me. I want to rollerblade."

"What does rollerblading have to do with Xemnas?" IR asked.

"He has a spare castle. Did you know that?"

"No. That's odd."

I felt more normal. Having an argument would feel better. "No it isn't." I instigated.

IR looked at me, hurt. "Are you trying to change the subject?"

I jumped. "N-no."

"Good."

Should I... "I- Mephisto?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are you... you..." I couldn't find the words.

"Hm? I thought you wanted this. Do you not like it?" He looked into my eyes, pleading.

I put my arms around him. "I like it."

"Yes. Did Xemnas say you should rest?" IR said.

I was suprised to find myself reluctant to let go. "Yeah..."

He stood up and pulled me into an embrace. "Good night."

I watched him walk to my door and look back. I smiled. He returned it and closed the door lightly behind him.

I slept soundly. Apparently for a while, too.

I mean, if you flew for 5 days with no breaks and then got the crap beaten out of you, you would, too.

I sat up after having an argument with myself about either sleeping more (I was still exhausted) or getting up.

I heard rumbling and talking across the hall. It had to be pretty late. Had I slept in? Were we leaving France today?

But an even more horrible question haunted me.

Was Virus even gone and done for?

I pushed it aside and opened my door. Nobody out there.

I walked to the next room and got smashed when I tried to knock. "Kya?"

"Cat! Sorry!" Xemnas said as I steadied myself. "Why are you up already?"

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Seven. God, I thought that you would've crawled into a coffin and slept for a thousand years. Like a vampire." He chuckled.

"Vampire?" I punched him. "Jerk."

"I think IR wants to see you." He whispered and pointed down the hall to my room. IR was rocking back and forth on his feet and trying to decide whether or not to knock.

Xemnas laughed quietly. "You go talk to him. I'll check you after I finish checking the girls." His voice held a hint, as if he was 'checking _out_ the girls'. Typical pervert. He walked to the room right next to the girls', which was the boys', and entered.

I called to IR. He jumped and walked to me. "Didn't Xemnas tell you to rest?" He asked.

I shrugged. "You were about to wake me up anyway."

He patted my head. "Go and sleep. I'll wake you up when our flight is ready."

I ducked from his hand. "I don't wanna! I can fly myself!"

He shook his head. "The last time you did that things did not turn out well, now did they?"

I blushed. Was he trying to point out that defeating Virus was my _fault_? Ktch! "You're not the boss of me." I walked sternly to my room and locked myself in. How dare he? And when I just feeling that... that...

That he loves me?

I hit my forehead. How could I? Just again, the serotonin incident. Flip it.

I swore to myself and flopped on my bed. This was too confusing...

I must've dozed off, dreaming of doughnuts, because the next thing I knew I was awoken by a knock.

"Come in." I said. I rubbed my sleepy eyes and stood.

"It's Xemnas." He came in with bandages. "Did you know that markets have sports' bandages?"

"No. I didn't know that." I said and sat back down on the bed.

He kneeled and checked my arms first. He murmered something about 'inflamation' and said louder, "I thought that yesterday IR was going to cut your shin off."

"I don't know what's up with him. He's nice."

"Hm? He's always been nice."

"No, I mean... boy... ba... I don't know the word."

Xemnas burst out laughing. "Wha-what? You sound like a poor, lifeless, soul! I can't beleive that even the serotonin didn't knock the word '_boyfriend_' into you! God!"

I blushed. "Well, what do you expect?" I left out the part about the School. I don't like memories.

There was a long, awkward silence. Finally Xemnas spoke. "You've matured a lot when we first got you."

"Got me? Rude!" I yelled and would've crossed my arms if a perv wasn't touching them. "No, I haven't. How could I mature if I haven't grown older?" The earlier dialogue made me reflect.

Xemnas stood up. "We're leaving soon."

I looked up. "What about your family? Your son?"

He looked away. "He didn't turn out the way I wanted him to."

I blinked. Huh? "Can I fly myself?" I changed the subject.

"No!" Xemnas suddenly yelled. He sighed. "Not yet. We're taking my jet."

I scoffed. "Don't let IR get drunk again. You're a child abuser; IR's underage."

Xemnas winked as he left. "No promises. IR likes it."

"Instead give him sparkling juice!" I yelled after him.

I walked up the silver, shiny steps. I trembled and stared at the black tar below.

It was terrifying.

I mean, yeah, I fly. Yeah, I can go to, like miles up in the sky. Yeah, I could be mistaken for a bird and a hunter could shoot me and I could fall to my death. But walking was different. I can't see how humans can do this.

MADNESS!

Xemnas ushered me from the top. "Come on, it's fine. Look, there's a railing. See?"

"Yeah. Railing." I said. "It doesn't help."

Some mad guy could appear out of nowhere and melt it with a flamethrower. Then I'd fall and die. That wouldn't be fun.

IR was behind me. Everyone else was inside the plush jet.

"Go." IR said. "I'm behind you. You won't fall."

"I don't like it I don't like it!" I started to scurry down the steps but IR stopped me. "Nooooo lemme go away!"

"No. Go up."

I huffed and slowly, painfully walked up the steps. I reached the top puffing and huffing.

"There." Xemnas reassured. "At least the jet _might_ not crash and blow up."

I screamed and was pushed by IR back up. "Noooooooooooooooooo!"

IR punched Xemnas after I was pushed, hyperventalating, into a soft chair. "Thanks a lot."

Xemnas laughed. "Sure. It's my jet."

IR scoffed and pulled me onto a couch with him. I gazed around and took in the home-like views. Pictures framed the exotic walls. A plush red carpet lined the floor. Tables and chairs and couches were all around. Everyone was either reading a book or watching T.V. on the flatscreen. It seemed like a house.

I threw a fit. And a book. "I don't wanna be on the flipping jet!" I screamed. "Get me off! I'm gonna die!"

IR glared at Xemnas while he held me down. "You did such a good job. Thanks. Can you at least help me?"

I flailed and yelled. Then I slept.

I was tired, okay?

Well, mostly I was tired from the flailing.

I woke up. It was dark. The tanuki was sleeping and I was leaning on him. Most the Correctors were sleeping except Grosser and Syncro, who were playing chess. Xemnas was gone, I asumed up front with the pilot. Nightmare was gently poking and prodding Yui in her sleep. Sioux was reading. Professor Inukai was pointing at words and helping her sound them out.

I was oddly calm.

Xemnas shifted the curtain and appeared. "Don't freak again." He whispered. "Everyone else is sleeping. It'll be another day until we get back to America."

I shifted. "Not everyone."

He rolled his eyes. "Almost everyone, smart-aleck. Don't wake IR, you know how much he did to get you asleep and not yelling?"

I blinked. "No."

"Tch. He cares about you. He always has. He's just not good with feelings."

I didn't think of something to reply with, so I was silent. Silent but thoughtful.

He liked me the whole time? I didn't. I didn't like him until he was back in his human form. I didn't like IR at all. I thought he was snobby, techy, weird, and stuck-up. Sure, raccoon-dogs are cute. But he was cute in an 'OMG those shoes are so cute!' way. Not cute in an 'Come kiss me and cuddle' way.

"I can't believe he likes me still now." I said my thought out loud.

"Why wouldn't he?" Xemnas said.

"I... I'm ugly. I'm scarred for life." I felt tears burn my scars.

Xemnas kneeled in front of me and took my hands... like a father. "You're not ugly. Scars are... are... Never mind. You should be proud of them. You are a heroine."

By now everyone that wasn't asleep was looking at us. I don't like people who look at me. It's just not polite. I mean, like, go look at someone your own size. Gosh.

I shook my head. "Well, I'm not! Th-"

IR was stirring. "What?..." He slirred.

I pushed Xemnas away and ignored eyes. "Nothing. I said nothing."

Getting off that flipping flying metal contraption was the easiest thing I've ever done.

I leaped at the top and ran really far around the modern 'backup' castle.

Who would flipping have a 'backup' castle?

The spring night was damp and warm. I ran around and fell the ground, sighing.

I guess you might call this home? The old castle wasn't really home... Nothing is home for me. But if the place you grew up in is home... Then, sadly, the School would be my home.

That's pathetic.

I heard Xemnas call my name and raced/skipped/jumped to my family.

Family? Wha-what?

The large door was open and people were filing in.

That's when I noticed: this castle was an exact replica of the old one. Wow.

I ran in and looked all around. Even the modern furniture were there. Wallpaper, floor... Table. Oven. Cabinet.

Good thing the floors weren't stained with blood. Eraser blood.

I didn't want to think this thought, but I had to. What had happened to Maximum Ride?

I tugged IR's shirt. "What happened to Maximum?"

"Max? Oh, she left. Said she had things to do."

I couldn't help yelling, "Yes!"

IR blinked. "You didn't like her?"

"No. She sucked. Like a straw."

I walked away. "Like a straw?" IR asked. "What does that mean?"

"It is a substitute for something else. You know, you suck drink out of a straw. Like, slurrrp. Drink. Yum." I pretended to sip out of an invisible straw.

"Oh."

I ran farther into the dining room, which was where you entered from the doorway. I grabbed Xemnas's jacket.

He turned around. "Hm?"

"Rollerblading!" I yelled.

"Aren't you tired?"

"No! I wanna rollerblade."

And that's how I ended up with bruised knees.

After looking through the large selection of rollerblades Xemnas kept in a storage, 'just in case', I wobbled into the large, dark room with a small, colorful disco ball.

"They're not tight enough." I said and fell.

Apparently IR had practiced, he was awesome at it. Like flying. Except on wheels.

So like a car.

I have no idea how he practiced as a Corrector, but that's none of my business. I don't think I want to know, either.

Of course Xemnas was pro, too, so I felt like an awkward newbie.

I fell to the floor and tightened them, the way Xemnas told me to, as IR flew around the circle.

Xemnas pulled me up. "Keep your ankles straight. Stand like you have sneakers on." He instructed.

I pulled my legs together from my split.

"Take a step forward, and don't drag the brake."

I tried to take a clumsy step and fell, during grabbing Xemnas's muscular arm.

"Could you be any less helpful?" Xemnas called to IR, who was halfway around the circle.

"It's payback for the jet." IR called back.

"Aren't you going to help your girlfriend?" Xemnas countered.

I blushed. And pulled myself up.

IR skidded around us and swerved in front of me. "Fine."

I grabbed his hands. "Oh my God!"

"Come on." He urged. "I got you." He pulled me slowly backward, so I was going forward.

I forgot to pick up my blades and fell, but I still held on. I closed my eyes and yelped.

I could feel him blush, for the first time in a while.

I opened my eyes.

I had let go of his hands and kneeled in front of him.

I think you can imangine the rest. No need to explain more, eh?

Let's just say the seam of his pants were pretty.

Xemnas was laughing in the backround.

My face turned bright red and I stood up, brushing it off. "Sorry." I mumbled.

"Yeah." We went around the circle, and the next thing I knew he let go of me.

I screamed in a pitch so high that I hurt my own ears. I whipped my wings to catch my balance, and stuck out my arms and tail.

Like a cat.

"You got it!" Xemnas yelled from the other side.

I was standing and rolling backward.

IR moved out of the way and I propelled myself forward.

Several falls, bruises and pain later...

I slowly picked up the blades and bladed around, IR or Xemnas on either side of me.

I went faster, picking up the blades fast and ignoring the pain in my ankles.

Soon later, after tons of falls, bruises and pain...

I was faster than Xemnas. I wheeled around, laughing maniacly.

"You're cheating!" Xemnas yelled as he sweated up to me.

I elbowed him after slowing my pace to his. "Sorry, it's not my fault someone merged me with some of the most balanced animals in the world. And I don't think you can cheat at rollerblading." I sped up.

"At least pull your wings in! Cheater! You could hit me!"

I stuck my tounge out at him, far behind me.

And then crashed into IR.

He rubbed his knee. "Watch it! I was just perfecting a trick!"

"Sorry!" I rubbed my knee and shin.

Xemnas fell on purpose next to us. "No fighting, or I won't turn on music or the disco ball! I can disco awesome..." He sighed like an elder.

"Music!" I yelled.

"No." Xemnas said. "You have to say it like this: music, on!"

All of a sudden music whirred to life, and the disco ball eminated beautiful, vibrant colors. It spinned, leaving blobs of color running along the walls.

Xemnas stood and put his hands on his hips. "Now we limbo!"

"Nooooo. We need people to hold the bar." I said brilliantly.

"And that's why you will go get everyone." Xemnas announced.

That's so sad that Xemnas has to say, 'everyone'. There's way too many people in this castle. Gosh.

I dragged myself all the way to my room.

Oh my God, my ankles were on fire. And my knees. And my back.

I sound like some old man. Gosh.

But that was sooo fun.

Other than...

The Incedent.

Tchhhh! I just felt like saying that. It sounds funny.

I was opening my gold door knob when I heard IR. "I want you to come with me."

Blood rushed to my face. Molester? "W-what?" I whispered and turned around.

He smiled. "I haven't been to my village in a long time. I wanted to introduce you to my neighbors."

I mentally sighed. "And where is this? Haven't you been gone for... a couple years?"

"It's actually in Com-Net."

I gasped. "So this isn't some Indian tribe? Really?"

"Do I look Indian to you?" He asked. "No. I'm not. When Stan was there, he actually was a glitch in the system."

How many things had he not told me? "It's nighttime. We bladed until 11."

"And your point is...?"

I sighed. "I'm tired."

He laughed a soft, breathless laugh. "So? Come on, please? I don't even know if they would remember me. I might even be a legend told to the children."

I sighed. "Do I have to kill anyone?"

"I don't think so."

"'Kay..."

He held up a silver bracelet with a large, sapphire gem in the middle. It looked anime-ish. "Installer, Command Sequence: Enter and Initialize!" He yelled. "Com-Net Memory, run!"

Light surrounded us, and I was transported into Com-Net.

I opened my eyes.

IR was... IR. Raccoon-dog IR.

You know... orange.

Unattractive.

I pointed at him.

"It's the only way I can go into Com-Net. I can transform once we go into the program." He explained.

"Oh."

It's fun floating into virtual worlds.

It's also something you don't do every day, am I right?

So... I stepped onto a field that was dark and gray.

I looked at IR again. He was in hot form.

I cannot beleive I just said that. Oh, well.

"It's going to thunderstorm." He said. "Go straight."

I held his hand, afraid of Erasers popping up and trying to kill us, and ran from the storm.

He swirved a couple times around a barrier of trees. Finally I saw a large gate.

There was a guard standing... guard. Laugh out loud.

Sorry.

I swear, I saw his eyes pop out of his head. He bowed to IR. "M-master Mephisto! We thought that you were dead!"

IR stood higher and puffed out his chest. "Show more respect! How could a shadow kill me?"

The guard apologized and opened the gate.

I entered and looked wearily around. Several houses, not fancy, but old-style-ish lined the tall stone walls. Shops, homes, bakeries, churches...

Everyone was inside except some kids.

IR walked to them, chest still puffed. "Hello."

There were about 4 of them, playing hopscotch on the stone walkway with a rock. They gasped.

A blonde girl breathed, "Warrior Mephisto!"

They ran to different houses, screaming happily, "Mommy! Mommy! Warrior Mephisto is back!"

People peeked from windows, and gasps were all around. They rushed out and cluttered around IR, congradulating him. He kept a firm grip on my hand, trying not to lose me in the crowd.

Suddenly they shut up and filed into 2 lines.

A fancy-dressed older man walked slowly down the aisle. IR pulled me to his side.

The man reached the warrior and bowed after a long stare-down. "Warrior Mephisto. You have returned." His sharp gaze reached me. "And who is this?"

IR stiffened. "My woman."

His... his...

WOMAN?

Holy crap.

I stood high. "Cat."

The man poked me with a stick. "A catgirl, eh? Nice. Nice choice."

Nice choice?

He nodded to me. "I am mayor Aldefino. You will stay tonight, will you not? We shall feast tomarrow." He held his hands high to the village. "To the return of Warrior Mephisto Prism and his new woman!"

Was that, like, stupid-ese for 'girlfriend'?

I'm not even close to being a woman.

... (Censored thoughts) ...

Never mind.

We settled into a hotel's best 'suite', if you would like to call it that.

Not even close to Paris.

I couldn't sleep.

First, IR and I had to sleep together. It was scary.

I swear, he was going to get high and rape me or something in his sleep.

Second, that flipping question still haunted me. Was Virus even done for?

I seriously doubt it.

I mean, have you known this adventure to quit? When have I been safe?

Never.

I tossed and turned all night, tearing myself down and discouraging myself so much I felt scared and helpless.

We stood hand in hand, departing.

"We have a home now. I have to leave. I'm sorry." IR announced.

"Will you come back?" The mayor asked.

IR nodded. "Goodbye."

The crowd cheered on Mephisto Prism and waved and shouted for joy while we walked back into the lush forest.

It was quiet. Too quiet.

No, nothing jumped out at us, I was just being dramatic again.

It's fun.

Eventually the forest faded and distorted, leaving us sleeping on the floor in the hallway.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes. It was... Com-Net... It was a dream?

I swore and shook IR. It was early, the sun peeking above the hills.

He wouldn't wake up so I shrugged and left him to search for food. I was hungry.

I Sang Rolling Girl half-mindedly and tried to awake the pervert. He snuffled and turned but wouldn't wake up.

He looks funny with bedhead.

I studied his face.

Then I went into my room.

Walking back into his bedroom, I uncapped a black washable marker.

IR had awoken and was playing with the bracelet, touching wires and mumbling to my 'dad', who was helping him.

I was so bored I sat on the floor and ran my fingers over the plush rug like a toy car. "Vroooooom. Rrrrrrr. Vroonnnnmmmroom!" I said pathetically. "Beep beep!"

Nightmare was sitting next to Yui, occasionally reaching for her hand. Sioux kept poking the tanuki and questioning him.

"What's your fave color?"

"Orange."

"Do you like milk?"

"Sure."

"Can I touch your hair?"

"No."

"Can you speak Italian?"

"No. I can speak English, Spanish, and Japanese."

"What's that?"

"A Com-Con."

"What's your name?"

"I don't know."

Xemnas dragged his feet to the dining room.

I covered my mouth so I didn't laugh.

He glared at me. "Now why did I buy you markers?"

I shrugged. "I dunno."

He pointed at me and narrowed his eyes. "If you weren't important I'd hurt you."

I laughed. "That's exactly what IR said when we first met!"

"I beleive it was 'kill'." IR laughed.

Ahh. Memories.

Ahh. Memories I despise when I was at the School.

Tch.

Xemnas sneered.

"What?" I said.

"You don't get pancakes today!" He yelled and then laughed evilly.

I screamed and punched the floor. "No! Nooo! Why? How could anybody be so evil? NOOOOOOO!"

Xemnas shrugged and walked away.

I continued pouting.

Turns out I did get pancakes. I mean, who could really be that evil? It's just horrible.

Xemnas paused during pouring syrup on his pancake. "Now that we defeated Virus, you can focus onn school."

"School? Capitalized, I'm hoping!" I said.

Xemnas laughed. "Nope. You, Nightmare, Sioux, and IR."

IR choked. "Excuse me? Why me?"

"And the last time you sent me to school the principle was an Eraser!" I yelled.

"IR is only 16. Technically, you're in high school still."

IR stood tall. "21!"

Xemnas stood taller. "16."

IR swore and sat back down.

Nightmare went in. "I think I'd be a good idea."

I gasped. "I don't even know how to read, though!"

Xemnas sighed. "Then how did you write a suicide note?"

I put my head down. "Why...? God help me."

Xemnas took dishes. "You start tomarrow, it is Monday. It's a different school than last time, though. 15 minutes away. I'll drive you." He looked at IR, as if to say 'You never told me you didn't have a license last time, stupid!'.

"Then I better sleep. I like sleeping." I announced and jumped up. "Come, Sioux. You shall, too."

Sioux blinked. "I just got up. It's only 9."

"Your point is?" I asked.

"I can't go to the School like this." I said.

"This? You mean the scars? And you need to stop saying '_the _School'. It's just a school." Xemnas poked at my scars.

"No, I meant with multicolored hair." I sarcasticly said.

"See, that would make sense, though. You have blue highlights."

I tsked. "Sorry, you're the one who made me fashionable." I paused and thought. "Eww. That sounded wrong. Even if I say 'created' it sounds wrong."

Xemnas laughed. "It's true."

"But still, you think about it... and... Alright! I'm going to pretend that I didn't have a thought that I made out with my own father and ask you another question." I sighed. "Do you think that it's odd that I don't have a mother?"

Xemnas laughed again, harder this time. "Of course you do! God, do you think that you jut appeared out of thin air?"

I shrugged. "Maybe."

I watched the pervert. He smiled to himself.

"What are you thinking about...?" I flicked him.

He held his face in his hand. "I-I-I-well, you know-I-um, s-summer... Summer's coming up soon... And- well, um. Uh-"

"Spit it out!" I yelled.

"I was thinking about all the teenage girls wearing swimsuits! Including you!" He yelled and I thanked God that IR was in the dining room and we were in my room. He put his hand over his mouth and tried to hold back a guffaw.

I hit him. "You are such a pervert!" I screamed.

He hid his face. "I-You w-were made to be s-seductive! I have to get you a string bikini! You would look great!"

I stood and gaped at him. "You are such a pervert!" I repeated. "I can't believe you! God, Xemnas!"

He fell back on my carpet and laid there, laughing so hard he occasionaly coughed. I tsked and tried to push the question away from me: what the heck goes on in his head?

7: School? School? Murder?

I stared at IR. He was putting on a cool, badboy act for some reason.

It was hot.

Sioux was holding onto my sweatshirt. "It's like a flood."

I nodded and dodged a kid in the small hallway. Then another. And another. There were tons of them, just like a flood.

Or a swarm.

Like bees.

I ran to a locker, which were painted purple, and dragged Sioux with me. I glanced at the paper in my hand. Written in scribbly, Xemnas's writing, was

_Locker number 1034, Sioux's is 1035. I got you next to each other. You're siblings, Cat and Sioux Tsubasa. You have doctor's permission to keep your hat on. Show them the fake note if they ask. Keep your wings tucked in and try not to cause any trouble, please!_

_Love Xemnas_

I squinted at the letters. "Sioux? I can hardly read. Can you read this?" I pointed at the letter. She needed to see it, anyway.

She read with her finger pointing along to the words, sounding them out. "L-locker number 1034, Sioux's is 1035." She paused, taking a breath. "I g-got you next to e-eh... ch... ech o-ott... o- tah... tah... otter. You're siblings,-" She interupted herself. "Cool. This'll be fun. Cat and Sioux tah-tah... suh-bah-sah... Tah-sah-basa. You have doctor's per-per-miss-eye-on... per-miss-eye-on..."

"Oooookay thanks! I can read the rest!" I shrugged her off my shoulder. "And I believe it's _Tsubasa_. Not Tah-sah-basa."

I pulled off the Hatsune Miku backpack and peeked at my schedule. I sounded out 'Literacy'. "Sioux, we have Literacy first."

I looked down the hall to the high school section. I searched through the swarms to check IR. I knew Nightmare was fine.

And what should I see but another swarm?

A swarm of females.

I threw the books I was carefully stacking in my arms back in my purple locker and told Sioux to get the rest for me.

I had work to do.

I marched down the hall to the high school girls. I tried to poke through the 'oohs' and 'can I have your number?s'.

"I love your hair!"

"You're so muscle-y!"

"Oh, I'm so lonely now. See, my boyfrie-ex- abused me."

"Whoops! I dropped my purse! Can you help me?"

"Hey, babe. 'Sup?"

I finally could see through a peekhole, which was a hand on a hip, leaving a triangle of empty space. IR was, suprisingly, shrugging off the girls.

"I know, um, thanks. Oh, yes, I work out. Oh, I'm so sorry about that, I hope he stopped hurting you. I'm sorry, can't. Well, um, hi."

He couldn't see me, so I pushed huge boobs out of the way.

As I emerged IR freaked and pointed. "Oh, sorry! I'm with her!" He pushed them and locked his arm in mine. "See? Yes, goodbye!"

They sighed and left, whispering things to me as they passed.

"You don't deserve him."

"Ha! Where are your breasts? Did they shrink-again?"

"&%$#."

"Burn in %$#!."

"A-cupper."

"Hey!" I snapped at them, yelling. "My breasts are perfectly fine! And for your information, I don't wear an A-cup!"

Mephisto stared at me. "Okay. I didn't know that in school girls compete for bigger busts, but alright." He didn't untwine his arm from mine.

I blushed. "I gotta get to class." I said as the warning bell rang. Then I pulled his face down and smootched his cheek. "Bye. Lunch?"

He nodden violently. "Yes! Lunch!" He paced away, almost skipping.

I hit my head. I'm so stupid. Why-how- did I do that? Just like we were a couple.

Aren't we? I asked myself.

I started tugging Sioux to our Literacy class.

"Xemnas, I quit. You can't make me go to school anymore." I slugged my messenger bag across the dining room.

In his hand were random pieces of paper, with several spread across the table, sorted messlily. He adjusted his glasses. "What? I'm trying to find stuff."

I huffed. "Yeah, thanks to Grosser. Why didn't the memory off your giant computer disappear? Like, died or something." I muttered.

"What?"

I slammed my fist on the table, making the papers jump. "I. Don't. Want. To. Go. To. School."

He looked up. "I had those sorted."

"Augh! Are you listening?" I yelled, making my 'classmates' behind me jump.

"No. I don't think I am. But what?"

"I don't wanna go to school. I don't like it, and I don't care if I get educated or not. Do you know how well I take people bossing me around? I got 2 detentions today, and I don't even know what a detention is! The teachers are vicious! Guess how much homework I got. Lots! And I got called to read several times. I wasted 8 minutes sounding out a 5-sentence paragraph. Listen to me! I sound like IR!" I paced back and forth, talking a mile a minute.

"You have to go to school. There's not much to do."

I hit the wall. "There's plenty to do! We could go around, killing stray Erasers, blowing up Schools! We could find-"

Xemnas stood and interupted me. "Do you really want to get hurt again?"

"Yes! That's my routine, what I'm used to!" I yelled.

"Virus is gone. The Sch-"

"No, he's not!" I screamed, my loudest. "He's not gone, he's not gone, he's not gone, gone, gone!" I fell to the floor and just started crying.

I dunno why.

Or maybe I do. In school I learned something about hormones. Would that have anything to do with mood swings?

Xemnas sighed and kneeled next to me. "Come on."

"No... no, no, no, no... No..."

"It's just school."

"Yeah. Just school. Tch. The words _just _and _school _should never be spoken together."

"I'll tell you what. You don't have to go to school anymore."

"Yeah? And them, too?" I stopped crying.

"No, they still have to go."

I started crying again.

"Okay, okay! No, they won't have to. God!"

I hopped up. "Yay!"

"You have an odd way of getting things you want." Xemnas said.

I flew around, up in the sky. It was so pretty, a warm day.

I hovered for a minute and thought about how all the poor little kids were in school right now, being lectured at a mile a minute. Burning pencil led down to a nub.

"Tag."

If you could jump in the air, I certainly did. I whirled around. "Nightmare! God, you scared me!"

"And Sioux. We're playing tag."

Sioux appeared, flying lazily from a cloud. "Clouds are wet."

"No kidding." I said.

Nightmare suddenly flew away.

"What? Oh, I'm it." I laughed like a maniac and lunged at him.

He jerked away, making me flip around and plunge a bit, before gaining my balance again. I went after Sioux and grasped for her hair.

"Gotcha!" I yelled and fled.

"Uuuuuuggggghhhhhh." She mumbled.

She made a move for me. I folded my wings in and plummeted to the earth. When I saw the great streatch of grass in the back of the castle, I flung my wings out and caught the air like a kite. I floated downward slowly.

"Hi."

"Kya!" I freaked out and fell. "Ow. How many times are people going to scare me today?"

IR shrugged. "Am I supposed to know?"

I shook my head. "No. Unless you're telepathic."

"I don't think so."

"Than that's okay."

He sat next to me, watching the little dots in the sky yelp and laugh.

"It was nice at lunch."

"Yeah." I remembered the- maybe- best experience in my life.

I had waited in the lunch line, and he saved me a spot at a 4-people table. We ate by ourselves, Sioux and Nightmare to the table next to us, and...

And we...

And we actually...

Augh! We made out a little bit, okay?

Actually...

We made out a lot.

I had to re-apply my lip gloss 5 times.

Then a monitor-teacher yelled at us and told us to control our hormones. She told me that I am too young to have a child.

I didn't even try. It's just kissing. God.

By now we were laying down in the grass with sunlight warming us.

All of a sudden he turned to me. "It was nice."

I nodded. "Yeah."

He poked me. "It was _nice_."

I nodded again. "Yeeaaahh. What is your point?" I thought. "Oh. Ohhh. Oh, okay." I took him into my arms and we started all over again.

I tapped her head. "Tag. You're it."

"No! Not fair! I want to start all over again!" Sioux yelled.

"Hm? It's tag. How in heck can you start tag over again?" I questioned and admired her eyes, a deep blue.

"I don't know, but it's a game. You can start anything over."

"Nope. Not time." I kept holding her up, trying to change topic.

"Well, time isn't a game." I flew down to eye level, careful not to hit her with jet black feathers. "Is it?"

She turned her head away. "No, it's time. It's different."

I pulled her chin up. "Are you like Sakura Neko? Do you like old-themed romance, like in Ouran High School Host Club?"

"W-what? I'm a tomboy!"

I tugged her away from where Neko had landed with IR. "I'll be your host."

"Did you not hear me?"

I started pulling her down to a landing. When we softly landed, I took her in an embrace. "You know you love me."

Her face turned bright red. "But-but you- p-player!"

"Ssh."

"You're beautiful."

"Sure. Whatever- mm- you say." I said breathlessly, in-between breaths.

"Really."

"Don't go crazy. I'm only 13."

"I'm not."

"I've seen somewhere that kissing can lead to other things. And I don't want other things right now."

"I'd never."

"Good."

I pulled away and caught my breath. "Do you know what would happen if someone caught us?"

"Kissing? Don't be absurd."

I shrugged. "I dunno. Professor Inukai _is_ my father. I've heard fathers aren't happy about things like this."

"He's Professor Inukai."

I sighed. "Do you remember when we first met?"

"And you tried to kill me? Several times?"

"Yeah." We were silent for a minute. "Why did you start liking me?"

"I've always liked you." IR said casually.

"Really?"

"In the state I was in, don't forget that I couldn't show love."

"I knew that." I said and cuddled back wth him. "I just wanted to hear you say it."

"Nightmare."

"Yeah?"

"I don't know."

I stood abruptly. "I have to go."

Sioux looked at me. "Why?"

"Lunch."

She stood. "I want lunch, too."

We went in and started eating salami sandwiches.

"Where's IR and Cat?" Xemnas asked.

"They were outside." I said.

Xemnas back to the kitchen. "Um..." He called. "They're... they're sleeping. Outside." He came back. "Apparently they were tired."

I shrugged. "Yeah, tired from kissing so much."

"What were they doing?"

"Sioux and Cat and me were playing air tag, and Cat landed, and then I saw them making out, and then we came inside."

"Alrighty then."

The door opened. "Hi." Sakura Neko waved.

"Hi." IR came in behind her.

Xemnas crossed his arms.

"What?" Neko said.

"I'm kidding. It's all good!" Xemnas laughed. "Food?"

"Yeah."

Xemnas sighed. "Correctors in Com-Net, Yui in, too. It's actually quiet for a change."

"It's too quiet." Zaix said.

"Don't you want to do what your father wanted you to? Answer me!"

Zaix glared at Virus. "My father doesn't care about me. He abandoned me to the School."

Virus considered. "Hmm. Then why don't you get revenge on your father?"

It was silent. Zaix sighed. "Yes. I will kill him, and the Expiriments."

"I will help you. Shall we teleport?"

"Yes. A quiet shooting, yes..."

"So what were you doing?"

"N-nothing! We were playing air tag." I stammered.

"Really? But IR can't fly. Or can he?" Xemnas pressured.

God! Why would he care? "Nightmare, Sioux, and I."

"At least you learned something from school." Xemnas said. "Yes, and then Sioux and Nightmare came in. Then what did you do?"

I shrugged. "Um. I watched the sky. It's pretty, you know. What are clouds made of? Sioux said that they're wet." I stalled.

"Don't change the subject. And actually, clouds are made up of water particicles. Evaporated water." He took a breath. "Then what did you do?"

"IR and I talked."

"And then?"

"Augh! Why are you asking me? Ask IR!" I yelled and felt sorry for putting IR in the spot.

"We are older. Why can't we have relationships? We just made out." IR crossed his arms. "Are you the boss of me?"

"You live under my roof. My huge, billions-of-dollars-worth roof."

"Are you telling me that I need to act _like a child_?"

"Yes! You are, aren't you?"

I intercepted. "I thought that you said that it was all good!" I yelled at Xemnas.

He yelled in frustration and left the room.

I grabbed IR's shirt. "Let's go."

"Where? I can't fly!"

"You can float."

"No! I am not being IR again! I don't like him!"

I sighed. "Then we travel on foot... Or..."

He looked at me. "The jet?"

"Jet! Yeah! Let's go." I gestured to Sioux and Nightmare.

They looked at me questionably.

"I'm not going." Nightmare looked away.

"Eh- what the heck! I love drama!" Sioux raised her hand. "Come on, Nightmare."

"No. I'm not going." Nightmare pushed out his chair and followed Xemnas. "Running away doesn't help anything." He glanced back at me. "You'd think that you'd know that by now, Sakura Neko."

I felt like I'd blow up. Nightmare's always been on my side! Why- why'd...

"Well, flip you too, then! Goodbye!" I stormed out the door, not making anyone follow me if they didn't want to.

I'm independent like that.

Although, Sioux and IR followed me.

I sighed. Thank God they did.

"No." Zaix stopped abruptly.

"What? Why not?" Virus turned and pulled his hand from the swirl of distortion.

Zaix smiled evilly. "If we just go in there, you know... the element of suprise has failed, ever so many times. Why can't we work from the inside out? Go in, go out, and let time do the work for us."

Virus paused. "... That... That is an idea. What do we do?"

Zaix crossed his arms. "Can you remove memories?"

"Huff. This is so boring." Sioux said.

I turned. "Well, yeah, I mean, if a regular kid ran away she'd go to a random place without planning. Taking a jet isn't really the way, I guess. But it works."

"I want to walk to the forest." IR stated.

"Okay. We take forest." I said. "Forget the jet. Tch."

No, we weren't on the jet. I'm sorry, but I'm not good at planning, and had forgotten that the jet was at a private port, as usual. God, we are naggy today, aren't we?

Just kidding. I bet you're estatic.

Or depressed.

Or dead.

R.I.P.

Grassland morphed to pines and oaks. I admired the patterns of bark and spiderwebs.

"Now I know why you wanted us to go here." I said.

"Yeah. It's pretty." Sioux said.

"Shouldn't we find somewhere to sleep? It's dusk." IR asked.

I shrugged. "I guess. Cave? Trees? Cliff? Cloud?"

"You can't sleep on clouds, and I can't fly-"

"You can float."

"Grrr..."

"Cave!" Sioux pointed to an indentation in a stone cliff, deep, like a tunnel, but not as deep, because you could see the back. "We could sleep there."

I raised my hand. "I'll kill a squirrel! No, I'm just kidding. That's gross." My stomach growled at the thought of food, though. Eww... squirrel.

I mean, think of fur and guts and blood...

That sounds like when Erasers and Experiments fight! Ha ha!

... Sorry.

I raced Sioux to the cave and beat her, because technically we never raced, and Sioux kept gasping and yelling, "No... No! It burns, it burns...".

I poked it. "Hard."

"No kidding. It's a cave." IR said. "Made of rock."

I blinked. "I thought it was going to be soft. A soft rock, that's nice and reads nursery rhymes."

Sioux agreed.

"Well." I sighed. "Home sweet home."

"Quiet!" Virus scoffed.

"Oookay!" Zaix whispered. He had stepped on a twig. "Why would they be in a forest, anyway?"

Virus laughed. "Even though Xemnas destroyed contact with the School, we still know what is happening around him. Ha! He is dense."

"Soo, how are we doing this?"

"My viruses!"

Zaix flinched at what he thought it was for a minute, or what Virus would do, then understood. _Computer _viruses. Why would they call him Virus for nothing?

"Look." Zaix said.

In a hollowed space in a cliff were their targets. No- target. There would be no reason to diminish all the memories of all of them.

"Now, I can't destroy all the memories." Virus said. "Just block them, take them away. Give and take."

"Give and take." Zaix recited.

I stirred and opened my eyes.

Rock?

How'd I get in a rock? No, cave...

Wait... Was I supposed to be in a cave?

Where was I supposed to be?

I looked around. A short, stumpy girl was lounged beside me. A guy at the entrance.

Whaaat?

I stumbled to my feet and out the cave, careful not to wake them. I jumped down and walked through the trees, pushing branches and blossoms out of my way.

A rustle.

I pricked my ears. "Cat! Where you going?"

I turned around. Who was he?

He slowed and grabbed my shoulder. I flinched away. "What? What's wrong?"

I blinked.

He sighed. "What'd I do?"

I blinked again.

"Okay. Something's wrong. What is wrong? Communicate!" His orange eyes shined in the low light of dawn.

"Who... who are... you?" I stammered.

"Stop playing games!" He gasped. "See! You made me act like IR again!"

"No!" I yelled. "Who are you?"

"Okay. Okay. You've gone mad." He started dragging me. "Sioux! We're going back to Xemnas!"

"Who's Xemnas? Why are we going back? Where are we going to?" I started kicking. "No one will tell me!"

8: Questions

"Xemnas. She wants to apologize." The boy pushed me into a modern... castle?

A man with no shirt appeared in a doorway. His piercing yellow eyes made me nervous. "Sure. Go on."

"W-what? What am I apologizing for?" I stammered. "I- I don't know..."

Xemnas scoffed. "Sure. You don't have to be so horrible. I can't believe you."

I looked at him. "Um. Why... why aren't you wearing a shirt?" Sure, he was hot. But he didn't have to be so show-off-y about it.

"What? You should know!" He yelled. "Why did you even come back?"

The boy shook me. "Stop the act! Apologize!" He whispered.

"W-what act?" I said. "Oh my God, am I a princess? Is that why we are in a castle? That'd be so cool."

"Um. You seem more dense then usual." A goth-y looking boy strutted in. "You came back?"

"Back?"

"Stop the act!"

"What act?" I yelled.

His gaze suddenly lost its suspision. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Sure you're sure?"

"Yes!"

"Xemnas! Something dramatic happened again!" Restraining Guy yelled.

"Test her." Xemnas said.

"Who am I?" Black-Haired Guy said.

I blinked. "Why should I know?

"Confirmation complete." Xemnas said. "Okay, let's check her out."

"My confirmation!" Xemnas yelled. "Is that it is another plot where Virus has allied with a random villain and tried a different tactic to try to kill the Experiments, but only to fail when we get involved and we recover what was lost." He scoffed. "That's just an educated guess, though."

I shied away from him. The 'infirmary' was creepy looking. I mean, everything in me wanted to jump off this train and run away.

"Okay. Goodbye." I speed-walked to the stairs.

"You're not going anywhere." Black-Haired Guy said. He blocked them.

I had nothing in me but insticts, and that's not a good thing to mess with. I shined my claws. "Go. Away."

He shined his. Wait... His? "Not. A chance."

I slashed and missed. He shrunk away behind me and grabbed me.

"Kya!" I struggled against Stumpy Girl, Xemnas, and Black-Haired Guy. "Let... Me... Go!"

"No!" Xemnas yelled. "Where would you even go?"

I stopped struggling to think. "I... I don't know."

"Stop it." Xemnas said. "I think what we're dealing with is amnesia."

"Am-amnesia? What?" I said.

"Amnesia. I bet it was Virus." Restraining Guy said. Then he made a shocked expression. "So... so she doesn't love me anymore?"

"What!" I gasped. "Okay, I don't understand anything that's going on!"

Xemnas sighed. "It's okay. We just need to get Virus. He has her memories."

"My memories?" I started kicking again. "Kidnappers! Help!"

"Oh, knock it off." Xemnas said. He let me go. "Now go somewhere off with Nightmare and Sioux. I gotta talk to IR."

"W-what?"

"Nightmare and Sioux? What kind of names are those?" I said.

"What? You're scaring me." I said.

Xemnas looked defiant. "IR, there's no way but to win her back. Virus doesn't have her memories, if it's amnesia she needs something to remember."

"Ugh, but it was so hard. We had to almost die. For, like, the 5th time."

"Hm." He thought.

"Oh God. Now you're scaring me worse, matchmaker."

"Canterella!" He yelled. "Ballroom dancing!"

"W-hat? I don't know how to dance, and neither does Cat!" I said.

"I'll teach you. And think of it, it'd be so moe!"

"Back off. Amnesia doesn't mean anything."

He out his hands up. "Oh God, he's out to get me. Ah, help. Noo, not the tanuki! Noooo! Why? Whhhhyyyyy?"

I sighed. "Why do your ideas always involve perverted things?"

"Ballroom dancing isn't perverted. Well, if you do it the right way. It'll all end up happy, like a cheesy Disney movie."

"And God knows you'll teach me the right way."

"And then you take nail polish remover, and get the edges off."

"Wooooww! This is awesome!"

"Neon green! How's that?" Nightmare said.

Sioux gazed at her neon pink nails. "Nightmare, you must be gay to know how to paint nails."

He shrugged. "I have my experinces, you have yours."

"But I don't like nail polish." She swore.

"This is so cool. Now what do we do?" I asked eagerly.

"Um." Nightmare said. "Ummm..."

"We... we..." Sioux gave Nightmare a devious expression. "Nightmare is going to bleach and highlight your hair!"

I twirled a blue streak around my finger. "But I thought my hair was already naturally highlighted."

"No! Sioux! Oh, my God."

Sioux suddenly laughed. "Oh my God! I said Bleach! Bleach is awesome, with Kon and Yoruichi and Ichigo and Soi Fon and Kenpachi and Urahara and Yachiru and Ukitake and Toshiro and Shun Sui! I even know what all the divisions do! Forth division is for healing and twelth division is for research..." She rambled on and on.

Xemnas suddenly burst from the doorway to the dining room. "We are learning how to ballroom dance!"

Sioux clapped. "Canterella!"

I blinked. "Wha?"

Nightmare gasped.

Restraining Guy stood silently with Xemnas.

Xemnas laughed. "Your expressions are funny. Now let's go!"

I sighed. "But Nightmare was going to highlight my hair..."

"Nope! Nooope! We never said anything like that!" Nightmare yelled. "It was... Sioux!"

"Sioux!" Sioux yelled.

"Nightmare!" Xemnas yelled.

"Xemnas!" Nightmare yelled.

"IR!" Sioux yelled.

"Sioux!" IR yelled.

"IR!" Xemnas yelled.

"Restraining Guy!" I yelled.

"What? Who's Restraining Guy?" Xemnas said.

I pointed to Restraining Guy. He gasped.

"Ooh. Burn." Xemnas mumbled.

"Uh." I stared at the old-century gown, grey and drowned in ribbons and lace. "What's this?"

"You have to get in the mood!" Xemnas said.

"Then why are you wearing sweatpants?"

"Because I'm your instructor."

"Then instuctors are unfair." I huffed.

"I can play violin." He clapped his hands. "Nightmare! You know how to dance! You help Cat and I'll play!"

Nightmare called from another room, across from the ballroom. "No, Xemnas! Not another bar again!"

Xemnas's face turned red. "No, not the bar! In the ballroom!"

"Oh." He came in.

I still stood there like roadkill.

So Xemnas played. He played awesome, the notes coming together to from a string of music. Like an old county hobo. Except even better.

"One, two, one, two. Slower, Xemnas!" Nightmare yelled.

Something about his grasp made him feel familiar. Like I knew him somewhere. Which was odd. I didn't remember anyone like him. Or did I...

Nope. I checked all my manilla folders. Sorry, folks.

Something snapped into place. Something clicked.

Something made sense.

No- everything made sense.

I pushed away from Nightmare. "It was IR." I whispered. "I remember everything."

"What?" Xemnas stopped playing. "You remember. Dang it all. I wanted to see you two, it'd be so moe!"

"Where is he?" I yelled. "It was him!"

"Who? And how do you know?" Nightmare asked.

"It was IR! I slept really lightly... and I saw... I saw... was it green or black hair? Black!"

Nightmare surrendered. "Wasn't me."

I stormed out.

Xemnas yelled after me. "Don't fight! I don't want blood on your dress!"

I pushed the doors and stormed to the dining room. IR was eating cereal.

I slammed my fist on the table. "This is war!"

He stood. "What?"

"You erased my memory, faker! You were the enemy after all! If you like Yui, just say it! You don't need to erase our fling!"

"I don't like her!"

I flung the bowl of 'Cheer 4 Os' across the table to the floor. "Liar!" I screamed at a pitch I didn't even know I could reach. I was as screwed as Miku in the 3DPV with Moetron Subs of Love is War.

That was funny. Ha ha.

Okay. Back to dramatic scene.

"Fine! Throw my cereal!" He yelled.

"No blood!" I barely heard Xemnas call.

I marched back to the ballroom. "I threw his cereal!"

"Wow. That's a good way to tell someone you hate him. Nice. You know, if you took it to the next level, like maybe threw a spork, that would get the point across even better." Xemnas mumbled. "Was there any blood or guts occured?"

"No. Unfortunetly." I said and crossed my arms.

Xemnas sighed. "Good. And you remember everything now! Yay!"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I?"

Nightmare and Xemnas looked at each other.

"Let the war begin!" I yelled.

I walked into my room.

I was tired.

Fighting is hard.

Especialy if you don't do anything that day.

"Kimi no ku-bi wo shimeru yume wo mita..." I sand under my breath. I looked out my window.  
>There was a huge spider on the wall.<p>

I screamed.

"Wha ha!" I whirled to see Mephisto in my open doorway. "1 point for the computer program!"

"Wha?..." I jumped at tackled him, straight down on the floor in the hallway.

Xemnas walked by. "Hm? I thought this was a war." He shrugged and continued on. "Whatever. Sometimes hormones are just too much and they want it. Use condoms!" He yelled back.

"C-condoms?" I punched IR, who was grinning.

He skipped away. "Sucker!"

I tried to wipe the blush off my face and sighed. I gazed at the 'spider'.

It was black nail polish.

I sighed. That was mean.

I didn't like being mean to her.

It wasn't even my fault!

I reached for the doorknob of my door. I grasped thin air.

"Wha..."

Wall. My room was here! Where was it?

Someone tapped me. "C-Cat!"

Cat smiled. "Aa, point for the nekomimi! Meeeellltttdddooowwwwnnn!"

I sighed. "Where is my room?..."

She blinked and acted innocent. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's covered in plaster."

"P-plaster?"

"I can't remember. I have no memories left." She giggled.

"Come on..."

She twirled away. "Have fun in the hallway. Alone." She didn't even look back. "With no girl."

She waltzed away.

"No..."

Sioux walked up to me. She glared at me.

"Uh... Owww!"

She kicked me in the shin. Twice.

"Love is War!" She yelled. "Oh my gosh! I love that song, like the way she is all mad and chucks the megaphone..."

Ugh. This was already too far. I needed to stop it.

...

But this is fun.

"Pancakes!" I yelled.

"Yes. Pankaki." Nightmare indulged in a pankaki.

"Watashi wa wakarimas." Xemnas entered.

"Ie. Wakarimas." Nightmare answered.

"Donatsu!" I yelled.

"So." Xemnas said. "I found IR sleeping in the hallway."

I almost choked. Did he mean... "That doesn't mean anything!"

"Aww. I want grandchildren."

"And I want to be a teen mom." I said. "I just blocked him room."

"I see." Xemnas said. "It's only a prank war? That sucks."

"I'm not gonna kill him. Yet." I said.

IR walked in. He glared at me. "The hallway is comfortable."

I laughed. "Ha."

Xemnas slammed his fist on the table. "Who wants to go to Disney Land?"

I stared at him. "Disney Land?"

"Disney Land has Mickey Mouse and Goofy and all those retarded characters that old people used to watch in the 19 hundreds!" Xemnas said.

"Oh. I wanna go!" Sioux yelled.

"We go today! I shall call in maids to pack bags!"

Sioux, Nightmare, and I flew the way to Florida.

It was long. The rest flew in that flipping jet.

When we got to Florida it was almost midnight so we stayed in a high-class hotel with awesome towels.

I sat on the couch and ran a brush through my long, wet hair. It was all tangled from our flight, even though I took a shower.

Never forget to brush your hair before taking a shower.

It always gets more tangled.

We left the Correctors, I mean, tickets and hotel rooms are expensive. Xemnas is not anywhere near a tightwad, but it's just... quieter, I guess. Better?

So it was just Inukai, Xemnas, Sioux, Nightmare... and _him_.

Him.

Him.

Him.

You know, once you look at the word _him _too much, it looks weird.

Sioux and I were rooming together. Xemnas had tried to squeeze into our room, too, but I wasn't taking any chances.

"Aw, but I'll have to buy another room!" Xemnas said.

I crossed my arms. "IR and I aren't together anymore, God knows what you'll do."

Xemnas crossed his. "It's the least you can do, I forgave you."

I flinched. "Okay, but think of this. A pervert rooming with 2 girls. Is that pretty?"

"Oh. Okay." He slumped away.

I sighed. Sioux as sleeping on the floor.

"Sioux! At least sleep in the bed!" I shook her.

She rolled.

"Ugh." I said. "Whatever, I hope the floor is nice and comfortable."

Someone knocked. I jumped and the brush got stuck in my hair. "Oh, God, no..." I yelled. "Uh, come in." I tugged at the brush, only entangling it more.

Xemnas walked in. "Hi."

"Not this again." I sighed.

Xemnas blinked. "Uh." He said. "I think you have a problem."

"No kidding. Nope, I'm fine, just have a brush stuck in my hair, I'm all happy and fine." I said sarcasticly.

"Lemme help." He sat with me, pulling strands one by one out of the brush. I felt a tug, and looked back. "Out."

I sighed. "Thank God. I thought it was going to become a part of me."

He started running it through my hair. "Have you thought of cutting it?"

I freaked. "W-what? Have you gone traitor again? Why would you want to cut my hair?"

"Whoa." He said. "You don't even know what that means, do you?"

"No."

"Wow. Well, it doesn't hurt. Can't even feel it."

I blinked. "No... no. I don't want it cut."

"Okay. Just suggesting." He started twirling my hair into a braid. "It's hot today."

"Yeah."

"You're gonna want it outta the way. Like, off your neck. You'll get all sweaty." He gazed at the floor. "Why is Sioux on the floor?"

I shrugged. "She fell asleep on it."

"Ohhkay." He was quiet for a little bit. "It wasn't IR, no matter what you think. It was Virus."

"W-what? It was Virus? I... I thought it was IR." I felt sorry for taking the room-service phone and re-wiring it so it would only call a bowling plaza down the street. "Oh."

Xemnas laughed. "I know what you did to the phone. Don't forget I'm rooming with the Professor, Nightmare and him. All done."

I felt the braid. "Thanks."

"Osay, I relish off."

"Relish. Osay." I laughed.

And that's when the door whammed open- right into Xemnas's face.

"Cat!" Mephisto called. "Oh my God- Xemnas! What happened?"

Xemnas touched the blood running from his nose. "You happened." He pushed IR playfully out of the way and left.

I huffed and faced the wall. Then I remembered what Xemnas had said. "Sorry. Xemnas told me that it was Virus, and I thought it was you."

"It's fine. Can I use your room-service phone? Ours doesn't work for some reason."

I stifled myself. "Y-yeah."

He pointed to my braid. "Nice."

"Thanks. Xemnas did it."

"Hello, can room 138 have some pudding? And cake, and... um, 5 cakes."

"Oh!" I tugged on his sleeve. "Me too, me too!"

"And room 136 needs 2 puddings and cakes. Strawberry, all of them. The pudding? You have types of pudding? Oh. Um, chocolate parfaits. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, thanks." He hung up. "Strawberry cake. Chocolate pudding."

"Yay!"

"Sorry."

"Me too."

"Okay. Just wanted to use your phone. Thanks, byes."

I waved. "Byyyeee!"

I plopped on the floor next to Sioux.

Hey, who needs beds?

"Whoa." I gasped and pointed. "There's a guy in a suit!"

Xemnas corrected me. "Mickey Mouse."

"I don't like him." I huffed.

Sioux sighed. "Can we get pretzels?"

"We need to see Beauty and the Beast first!" IR said. "And then Aladdin! I love the genie."

I was puzzled. "I've never even heard of those. But whatever." I looked at some kids taking pictures with another mouse. "Ooh, I want pictures with Mickey!"

"That's Minnie." Nightmare said.

Inukai held up a camera. "I have a camera."

I raced to Minnie. She waved at me.

"Hi." I said.

She nodded.

"Do you wanna take a picture with me and my boyfriend and my BFF?"

She nodded.

Why wasn't she talking? "Do you talk?" The rest had caught up with me.

She nodded.

"Flip it, talk, mouse!" A guy in a costume like a dog walked up and waved hi.

"Hi, Pluto." Sioux said.

Pluto waved.

Minnie tapped my head.

"Don't pet me!" I yelled at her and fixed my hat. "Talk you dang mouse!" I kicked her. Xemnas tried to grab me.

"Don't!"

I had Minnie pinned down. Pluto was backing away. People were watching us. And Sioux had joined the tussle.

Minnie yelled, in a very masculine voice, "Secrurity!"

"Now look what you did!" Xemnas said. He dragged me off of Minnie, which was now dented and cut. "Run!"

"Crap." I said and dragged Sioux.

People in uniforms started chasing us. I pushed Sioux to Xemnas and fell back to Inukai, who was lacking. "Come on!" I tugged at him, trying to give myself a boost with my wings.

"Urgh." He sped up, but slowly his effort deteriorated.

Mephisto came beside him and nodded to me. I knew what he meant.

"Hey, Inu! Get ready for a lift!" I said to Inukai and broke my shirt with my wings, creating rips in the back. People gasped and I saw flashes... and a puff of smoke. IR- real IR looked determined as he tugged as best as his little self could as I tugged as much as my little self could and together we got Inu off the ground. I glanced as Nightmare was pulling Sioux up and Xemnas was running like he was in a marathon.

I could see IR letting up and Xemnas was slowing. "Craaaaaaaap!" I said as a secrurity guy launched himself at Inukai. He yelled and swung, loosening my grip on him. I pulled him up, almost slipping.

We were almost halfway across the park, we were at the far end when we started.

This wasn't getting us anywhere.

I stared back.

The guards were starting to transform into Erasers.

Wouldn't you know that? Right when things start to calm down, they gotta just kill me. I knew Disney Land wasn't a hospitable place.  
>Seeing me look back made IR do so, and then he picked up the pace. Xemnas freaked and started pushing people out of his way instead of going around, and Nightmare dropped Sioux to help Xemnas. Sioux actually had to fly on her own.<p>

Quarter more to get to the entrance.

"Sioux!" I yelled. She looked back. "Help IR with Inu!" I waited for her to fall back and grab him.

I jumped down, we weren't very high up, maybe a couple feet at the most. They started to swarm.

"Go! Go! Go!" I yelled back at them, and they knew to obey me.

I kicked a couple down and counted them. Maybe 5 at the most. Pretty easy.

I must have been a bit rusty, figure I haven't fought like this in a while.

'Cause one got me.

And that led to other crap.

Apparently the Erasers were taking Torture ed.

One grabbed my head and pulled me to the ground. He held me down and I struggled. About 3 held me down, and 1 towered over me.

Then it starting ripping open the still-healing scars.

It ran its claws down the pink cuts, slowly and painfully.

I wasn't quiet. God, I was screaming my head off. It felt worse than when I actually got the scars. It was like a blood bath.

So now they're even worse. Great, just great.

I kicked and screamed and tried my best to get out of the way, somewhere. Somewhere where they couldn't get me.

And there's your dose of drama for today.

I flinched when I heard her blood-curtling screams.

What were they doing to her? It didn't sound like a regular fight. I shouldn't have let her go.

"Sioux!" I called. "I have to go back!" We were just getting to the exit.

We let Professor Inukai down and he caught up to Nightmare and Xemnas. Xemnas looked back. "What? You can't go back!"

I transformed and ignored him. I whirrled around and headed back.

One of Grosser's warp panels appeared in front of me, and sure enough, Grosser came out. "Something terrible has happened."

"No kidding." I ran on.

And he was right, something terrible did happen.

They just left her.

Left her to bleed to death.

"So much for Disney Land!" Xemnas hastily said.

"That was fun." Sioux breathed. "Let's do it again!"

"Great. More work for me." Xemnas said. "And I don't have my tools! Augh!" He jumped, trying to kill the floor.

"Calm down!" Grosser yelled. "We have 3 choices."

"How can I calm down? How can I calm down?" Xemnas yelled. He paced around the bed, hitting random objects.

I backed off. "Xemnas..."

He buried his face in his arms. "IR..."

Grosser acted as if everthing was fine. "We have 3 choices." He repeated. "We can leave her to bleed to death. That should happen in about... maybe a day, at the most."

Everyone was silent.

He continued. "We can attept to somehow go back to the castle, get Xemnas's tools, and come back in the course of at the most a half a day. That is almost impossible." He paused. "Or we can get help from a public hospital. The public has already seen all of this, anyway. That is easiest, but risky."

"Grosser." I said. "You can teleport."

"He can't bring anything with him." Professor Inukai said.

"SutaSuta." I breathed. "Grosser! We can try to seperate her body and her soul! Like transforming!"

"That's an idea. But it'd be incredibly hard." Grosser said. "But her body could still die, and she'd have no body to go back to. She'd become a shinigami."

"The only choice is..." Nightmare said. "No! We can't. If she would live, the Erasers would know where she was. So. I'll go. I'll take Sioux with me."

"It'd be faster in the jet, dispite what you think." Xemnas spoke. "For now, I need some of you to go to the store, and buy a sewing needle and thread. I need staples, see if you can find gauze, and there is a type of powder that people use on pets for clipping nails, it stops bleeding, I need lots of that, and antseptics. Matches, too! Cleaning alcohol! Lots! Go, go, go!" He yelled. "We need to do what we can for the time being to hold death off while Sioux and Nightmare get my supplies."

"Everything you asked for. Had a hard time finding the powder, though." I said.

Xemnas snatched the antiseptic and started spouting orders. "Start a small fire! Don't ask- now! I need the needle and thread, staples, and antiseptic! Ahhh- no! Don't touch the needle! We need it sterile! Okay- the fires up!"

He snatched the needle after washing his hands with the alcohol. I had used the match to light some paper in a pot.

He put the tip of the needle in the fire. "Start rubbing alcohol in the cuts! Now!" He yelled. "She might wake up and scream- it'll hurt- alot!"

I poured the alcohol in cotton balls and started drowning the cuts in it. The room was drenched in the smell of cleaning alcohol.

Cat convulsioned. Her eyes opened. "What..."

Xemnas came over, needle in hand. "Can you feel anything?"

"God, everything. It flipping hurts, make them stop! What are you doing?" Hew pupils became small when she eyed the needle. "What are you doing? I'm fine, I'm fine!" She tried to move away but flinched and yelled.

Xemnas smiled and took something out of his whitecoat. "Just in case." It was a shot. He threw it with such force into Cat's arm. "Sorry."

She gasped and went limp.

I looked at him. "Just in case?"

He shrugged. "You never know."

I sighed. "I can't look."

Professor Inukai put a hand on my shoulder.

"Than go away." Xemnas began sewing flesh together. "I have work to do."

I worked swiftly, determined. In all my years I haven't even seen something like this.

Not that I'm old!

Okay, this is probably really gory, so I won't go into such detail. It was just really bloody. So much for a white bed. Now it was scarlet.

They left for the snack bar, and left me with a task and a half to do.

I really wished that Sioux and Nightmare would hurry up. Improvising with common household items isn't good enough.

Wiping sweat off my forehead, I got more cleaning alcohol.

You know, in the college I went to for all my medical permits they never had taught how to treat something like fixing scars from a winged catgirl. Maybe it was even too gory for them.

But I liked this gory. It was like being a real doctor again.

Darn. This girl was so beat up.

Figure all these fights, and scars, and injuries, she has to die sometime.

How could I say that? I scoffed at myself. It was true, though.

Either she had to die of injury, or she'd Expire.

Sometime or another.

Dark fell.

I didn't eat anything but orange-sherbert ice cream.

It was good.

We were about to head out when Sioux and Nightmare came bursting in. I nodded to them and we all started running.

She was fine. She had to be fine.

"Xemnas!" Nightmare thrusted a large case with stuff poking out of it at him.

"Thank God! Now I can actually be civilzed." Xemnas gasped. He was out of breath and rushed. "Put the maid sign back on the door."

I put the paper that said 'Don't come in right now, please! We're busy, come back later! Thanks!' with a picture of a maid on it back on the hook outside the door. "Ain't that the truth?" I breathed.

I picked up the phone. I wasn't going to stay here and watch this. "Is anyone up for bowling?"

"Strike." Grosser said.

"My turn!" Sioux yelled. She gripped the purple ball, swung it back, and swung forward, flipping with the ball. "Stupid bowling shoes!" She yelled and hit the ground.

The ball rolled slowly and hit the middle pin, a strike.

"Strrriiiikkkkeee!" Sioux said.

"Me." I said. I grabbed the marble black one and rolled it expertly.

It went into the gutter.

"Aauuughgghhhh!" I shouted. I didn't have any points! Zero! Zip! None! And we were on the last round of the game! "I won the last game with Xemnas at the castle! I had gotten 6 strikes!" I grabbed a pink ball and chucked it in anger.

Gutter.

I collapsed and moaned.

Professor Inukai laughed. "The balls don't like you, IR." He rolled a spare.

Grosser rolled another strike. His 5th in a row.

Sioux threw the ball and it thudded on the aisle. She got snake eyes.

I laughed brokenly. "How will you get that?"

"Like this." She nodded and chucked a brown and red sphere into the aisle next to us.

An adult had ran into the lane to get a ball, which stopped because the little kid that threw it was a horrible bowler. Sioux's ball ran and knocked the adult over, sending her sprawling into the snake eyes. They knocked over to form a spare.

I gaped at her.

She laughed.

"Okay." Grosser laughed. "We have to go."

"Yes!" I yelled and ran for the door.

Xemnas fell into the chair and sighed.

I blinked. "Tired?"

"What do you think?" He snapped.

"Good job." Grosser stated.

Nothing.

"Xemnas?" Sioux said. "Xemnas?"

He fell asleep.

I moved.

Holy crap, I hurt.

I must have said that phrase at least 40 times throughout this whole story-thing. Tch.

"Xemnas?" I yelled once I saw him sleeping in a chair. Maybe that's why I hurt?

"Wha? Wha? What? What's wrong?" He snapped awake. "Oh, you're awake."

"You sound disappointed." I said.

"No. I'm happy. I'm also tired."

I looked around. "Are we really at Disney Land? Disney Land sucks, then."

He shook his head. "Nope. No Disney Land."

"Hmm." I thought. "We were running away from Erasers... and then I hung back to hold them off..." My eyes widened. "They got me."

"They sure did."

Something felt different.

I swung around.

"No!" Xemnas yelled. "Stay down!"

"Fine." I said. "But check the back of my neck."

"Why? That's an odd question." He did so anyway, sweeping my hair out of the way. He jumped. "Did you get a tattoo at Disney Land without my consent?"

"No. What is there?" I shook.

"Numbers."

"You know what they mean." I started crying.

He covered his mouth. "In... in 3 days."

"I knew it." I threw my pained arms around him. "I'm going to Expire."

"We couldn't sleep." IR stated. "Is Cat okay?"

I wiped my eyes. "If you want to put it that way."

Nightmare jumped up. "She's dead."

"No. Just come see."

I led them into the room, Cat sobbing on the bed.

"What's wrong?" Sioux rushed to her side.

"I'll put it simply. She'll Expire in 3 days." I crossed my arms and blinked several times.

"What?" Nightmare said, though he wasn't asking. He knew what I said.

But IR was hysterical. "What? No! She can't! Liar!" He freaked. "Can't she Sing something? That's impossible! She's not a regular Expiriment!"

"Then you stop it." I said.

"You can stop it, Xemnas!" He screamed at me. "I can't!"

Grosser spoke. "Sing Meltdown, and we can fix it. Trust me. We can restart, like a game."

We all looked at him.

"It's too hard to explain, just do it."

"I trust him." Cat said. "But first, I have to kill Virus. God knows he'll interfere somehow."

I smiled. "I'll enjoy doing that."

"Yes! You shoot him!" Cat said. "And the Meltdown begins."

9: Meltdown

_Machi akari hanayaka ether ma su i tsu-metesa. Nemu renai gozen niji. Tsubete ga kyu-soku-ni ka-waru..._

"I accompany." I put my hands on my hips.

"You no accompany." Xemnas copied me.

"Why-" I shut up. I should know by now, shouldn't I?

"You can come with us. I'm not leaving you alone here. God only knows what you'd do."

I glared at the silver steps and swore at them. Then I slowly climbed up.

I threw myself on a couch with Sioux.

"Hi. Can I poke you?" She asked.

"I don't care. Poke me to death. That'll be in approximently 2 days, so you have to hurry at it." I sighed.

She poked at one of my stitched cuts.

"OW!" I yelped. "Not there! Jerk!"

"But it looked so cool, I just had to touch it." She said.

"I think they're the opposite of cool, but whatever you say."

IR sat next to me, so I was in the middle, with a mutant on either side of me. Would you specify a tanuki as a mutant? Whatever. "Hi."

"Sorry. This dramatic scene is making me self-refelctive." I stated. "Hi, too."

"Okay."

"Okay what?"

"Just, okay. Fine. I figured you're going to die in 2 days, and you'd want to be with me, but whatever."

"I do!" I said and pulled him back.

"Oooh." Sioux said.

I hit her. "Shuddup!"

She crossed her arms. "Sorry, Nightmare don't like me no more, so I'm bored."

"Imangine Bleach openings in your head."

She started bobbing up and down and humming.

"There you go." I said. "Asterisk. Asterisk. Think of keyboards."

IR sighed. "I'm self refelective, too. I guess it just must be summer."

"Great." I puffed. "My first summer and I don't even get to wear a bikini before I die. What are you reflecting about?"

"Zen."

"You're focusing on zen?"

"No, Zen. A person. And Naiomi, and Luna... Makaa... Tiara."

"Should I be worried?"

"No, no! They were... past Singers. They..." He started to cry. "I failed at training them!"

"S-stop! Don't cry!" I shook him. "It wasn't your fault."

"Zen was the first Singer." He sniffed. "She... I trained her too hard. She... she d-died from exhaustion."

I gasped.

"And Luna was chosen after her. She lost a battle with Jaggy. And ran away. We never saw her again."

"We?" I whispered.

"Xemnas and I." I noticed the jet had taken off. "Makaa Cano was after her. She was Singer for a week. Then she died in a car crash. Tiara Futsheru. She was the best of them all, had a beautiful Singing voice, and then she quit. A month later a newspaper headline said she was on the Missing Persons list." He took a breath. "Naiomi was before you. Naiomi Kanchan. She was never really good at it, but she liked it a lot. A month after she died in a battle with Freeze.

"We figured we would start out with older people, Zen was 20. She had graduated from the same college as Xemnas, and he liked her, so she was the first. Then she failed, so we went younger. Luna was 17. Then we figured they were too old, and went with Tiara, she was 11. Too hard, too much school. Makaa was 14, and we thought we hit a breakthrough. Young teens.

"And next on the list was an Expiriment. We both knew about the School, but decided to leave it be. All we needed was that girl."

I blushed.

"And that girl was perfect. What we needed, brave, determined, strong. And those beautiful wings of hers." He sighed dreamily. "Ahh, I wish I could see her again."

I leaned on him. "Hopefully you will."

"Hahaha!" Xemnas laughed. "I haven't seen blood in a whi- oh. I can't say that. Saw a lot yesterday. But I still like shooting people. It's fun."

I blinked open my eyes. "Wha? We there?"

"Yeah." IR jiggled me. "Gets ups."

"Ohhhh. Carry me." I held out my arms.

"Eww. Blood." He laughed. "I'm so not used to it." He scooped me up.

Xemnas blocked the doorway. "Uhhh-uhhh. She ain't goin' nowhere. I'm outta thread because of her."

"I'm not leavin' IQ." I groaned sleepily.

"IQ? I think IQ has an I. Q. of 4." Xemnas said. "If he thinks he's taking you out there."

"Then IQ wants to stay with K-E-T." IR said.

"Ken?" I lifted my head. "Noo, everyone's gone gay."

Grosser scoffed. "Mephisto can stay. We don't need everyone to come shoot someone."

"Marco Polo? I like that game." I slurred. "I'm Marco. Polo!"

"Mephisto. My name isn't Marco Polo." IR said.

"I like grapes better."

"Grapes? Whatever." He carried me back to the couch. "Have fun shooting my worst enemy! Be sure to videotape it!" He called.

"Uh-uh." Xemnas said. "Sioux's staying, too. Cat doesn't need to be a mother yet."

"Wha-whaat? I wasn't thinking!" IR stuttered.

Sioux yelled. "Yay!" She pointed at us. "I have eyes, and I think I'll keep them in my head, not on you. I'd be, like, blind."

"I'm sleeping again. It's too early." I sighed.

"It's only... Oh. You're right. It's 7." IR pushed back my hair.

"That's too early! I proclaim myself a vampire!" I yelled. "I cannot touch the sun."

"Fine with me." Sioux shrugged.

"Sigh-ox!" I pointed at her. "I want fruit punch."

"I'm not your waiter!"

"Unless you want me to duct tape you and tie you to one of the jet wings you are." I said. "IR will do that for me." I blinked. "Where are we, anyway?"

"France. We tracked Virus to the School we met Grosser in." IR said.

"F-France? I only have a day left!" I yelled. "Grosser better come soon, and do that weird Sing-thingy."

"I could always do it."

"Oh. Oh okay."

"You Sing Meltdown. It's your main Song. It'll restart the timer, the Expiring date." He said. "I'll do the rest."

He transformed. "Ultra memory Song, run, transform and restart! 13-0-due date 5/7 6783! Input code: 123138945! Confirm memory code, run and install!" He yelled with emotion.

I transformed. I felt like a whole new person, and I didn't hurt. Oh, yeah, the effects are only temporary, so I might as well enjoy it while I can. Lol.

I can't decide if I like the word lol or not.

No! I don't.

Do I?

Oh well.

IR kept saying all sorts of number imput, blah blah, 13-something, blah, run, install, blah. Crap I don't understand. I just Sang.

I love Meltdown.

Sioux bobbed up and down as I Sang.

"Memory: encode run. Confirm, 8745! Hack input code 72, image run from 19 to 456,678,239, encode inscriptions, 230%. Greyscale, ice cream. Singer equals Cat Prism Expiriment, long life battery. Plus to minus outlet. Com-Net hack: Installer enter! Memory... Run!" He collapsed.

I finished and fell, also.

That was hard.

I bet it was for Mephisto, too, though.

I mean, he fainted. Gosh.

Sioux looked at me. "That was cool. And now you won't die, right?"

"Yeah. Hopefully." I looked at IR. "Maybe I shouldv'e waited for Grosser, too. Poor whiddle IR couldn't take it. Poor whiddle waccoon."

I picked him up and put him on the couch. Sioux came over and poked him.

"You think he's dead?" She asked.

"No, but I can't check. I mean, do you think somehow he has a pulse? Or a heartbeat? No." I said.

She picked him up and threw him on the floor. "That should check."

"Stop!" I yelled. "You're gonna give him a concusion or something! Or a seizure!"

He blinked. "Uh."

"Hi. Sioux threw you on the floor." I said.

"No kidding." He rubbed his whiddle head.

I shook. "OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGod! You're so moe!" Sioux and I yelled at the same time.

"Too much anime?"

"Igottasqueezeyou! Kawaiiiiiiiiiiii!" I squealed like a girl in OHSHC. Sioux and I squeezed him. Very hard.

"No... No! Ahhhh! Help me!" IR yelled and transformed.

"Aww." I said. "But you're still cute."

"Yeah." He fixed his shoulder. "I could feel that."

"You know, right now, Xemnas is probably yelling something insulting at Virus. Then he pulls the trigger and fires!" I said thoughtfully.

"You have done so many things to screw up my life." I sneered at him.

He struggled under my grip. He was against the wall. Literally. "L-let go of m-me!"

I closed my hand around his neck even tighter. "Hmm." I thought. "Should I suffocate you slowly and painfully, or should I shoot you slowly and painfully..."

He gasped. "You wh-wouldn't!"

"Try me."

"Take it easy." Nightmare said. "Uh. Nope. have you thought of me merciful?" He grinned evilly. "Kill him slowly."

Grosser sighed.

"G-Grosser!" Virus choked. "Stop him! Do you want him to kill me?"

Grosser turned away. "We are no longer allied. You have caused more trouble than you are worth."

"Grosser!"

I laughed. "Pathetic." I leaned closer to him. "Now tell me. Why are you still here? Why are you still here in France? And what did you do to Cat?"

He was silent.

I shook him violently. "Tell me! Now!"

"Fine! I erased some of her memory. And I'm here because I have a captive. A captive that might be important to you."

"Xemnas!" A familiar voice yelled.

I flung around to look at a window. Behind it was Zaix.

I flung Virus around to Nightmare. He took him in a headlock and passed the camcorder to Inukai.

"Xemnas! I'm sorry!" Zaix yelled through the barrier. "I was with Virus! But then he took me captive!"

I glared at him.

"I'm sorry, Xemnas." He looked distraught.

"Don't say you're sorry to me." I shot a round at the glass and watched a crack spread like fire. The seperating wall fell in a high-pitched song. "You've done this to Cat. You apologize to her."

"Cat? Whatever."

"That's your son?" Nightmare asked.

"Yeah."

He shrugged. "I guess they look alike. Very alike."

"Okay." Zaix stated. "May I have the pleasure of killing him?"

"Be my guest." I swept my hand towards Virus.

"Yes!" He turned more wolflike, almost just like an Eraser. I almost had forgotten at what they had done to him when I left. "This is what I call ironic."

"I think it's horrible that you videotaped that. Much too gory." Xemnas said.

"You videotaped it?" I asked.

"Nope." Nightmare laughed. "It's fake."

"F-fake? You scared me!" Xemnas yelled at him. "That was the fastest murder I've ever been included in."

"I did it." Another Xemnas with short hair said.

"Wha?" I got up from the board game we were playing and poked him. "Xemnas has a clone! Wait... I know you!" I slapped him. "You tried to kill me!"

"Sorry." He mumbled.

You know, in this big happy family when you try to kill someone you just say sorry. And that's the end of it.

Appearently.

I never made the rules.

That'd be cool if I did, though. Pretty awesome.

"Alright." I huffed. "He looks exactly like you, Xemnas. Except wolfy. Can I touch your ears?" I asked.

"No!" He hid the wolf ears on top of his head. "Do you want me to touch yours?" He grabbed one.

I hit him. "No! Stop it!" I yanked one of his.

"It's like Inuyasha!" Sioux yelled. "Whoop whoop!"

"Can you go fight somewhere else so we can get through the door?" Xemnas said. "I don't want blood on my carpet, though, so keep it mild."

I stepped away. Mini Xemnas followed me. We continued.

"Doggy!" I taunted him. "Fuzzy doggy!"

Mephisto laughed. I don't know why.

"Cat! Um... cat!" Mini Xemnas scoffed.

"Mini Xemnas!"

He gasped.

"His name is Zaix." Xemnas whispered. "Start the plane!" He yelled to the pilots.

I held on to a table, strapped to the floor, for the takeoff.

"Why don't you stop arguing and come sit so you won't fly up to the front?" IR said.

I stuck my toungue at at Zaix and joined him.

"So." Grosser started. "Do you want to get started?"

"Well, uh-" I said. "We... I..."

"I did it myself." IR crossed his arms.

"And then you fainted. Nice. Good." Grosser crossed his arms.

"And then Sioux threw him." I glared at Sioux.

"Why couldn't I do it myself? It went well. It worked."

"It was hard."

He looked away. "Skosh."

"Skosh?"

Nightmare knew it. "Japanese. A little. Skosh."

"Shut up!"

Xemnas sighed.

It was quiet for a little bit.

"What do we do now?" I broke it. "Virus is dead."

"That doesn't mean the Erasers will stop coming. Someone else will rise and become the new leader." Inu spoke.

"So we destroy the Schools." I said. "And we stop whatever other person comes."

"It'll be a never ending game." Zaix said.

"We can't kill everyone." Nightmare agreed.

I remembered Disney Land. "And people saw us at Disney." People were taking pictures and videos... "Crap!" I yelled. "Turn on the news!"

Sioux reached up and pushed the power button on the flatscreen. "It starts on Channel 2."

"Good enough." I said and stared at horror at the top story.

"And now, mutant bird kids." A pretty reporter had a headline above her that said 'Bird Kid Sighting'.

I sighed.

"It was a peaceful day at Disney Land." She said. "When all of a sudden a young girl attacked Minnie Mouse. People called for secrurity and then the ominous group ran away. The group consisted of 2 young girls, an elderly man,-"

"Elderly?" Inu shouted.

"And 4 men." Pictures popped up of us running.

"Crap." I said.

"Then all of a sudden, one of the men, with black and orange hair, transformed into a CD-rom like being! Tom, what do you think it could be?" The screen moved to a man with short, spoofy hair.

"Well, my daughter watches anime. And she thinks-"

"Don't say it! Do! Not! Say it!" IR yelled at the man. "Shut up!"

"He can't hear you." I whispered to him.

"She thinks that he is from an Japanese anime she watches." He looked down at a paper. "Uh- C-Corrector... Yahee? Yoohi?" A camera man came onto screen and pointed at the paper. "Ohh. Yui, Corrector Yui."

IR sighed. "I give up."

I laughed.

"She says his name is... Err?" The man came again. "Ohh. IR, IR."

IR swore. "You suck, Tom."

"But she says that he's a computer program. So, I think she is insane. That is no possible way to explain this. Back to you, Shelly."

"Thanks, Tom. So, after that, the 2 young girls and 1 of the men grew wings! Real wings, with feathers! Do you think that is a hologram? There's no strings attatched! This is unreal! Can we- can someone run the clip? Okay, this is a clip that a person had filmed, see it for yourself."

The clip screened on. It was filmed on a home camcorder, and the battery was half-full. The people were filming a child riding a roller coaster. All of a sudden there was a scream, and I knew it was me. They whirled around and saw all of us running, people yelled and cried. It caught us flying, and then the filmer dropped the camcorder. You could hear the secrurity in the background and snarls from the Erasers. People screamed and screamed and screamed. Then it went black.

"Tom, what do you think?" The reporter asked.

"Well, people have searched all over for these people. They were unseen, although at the end the horrible wolfmen caught one of the mutants, and they started to tear at her. 911 was called, and people were told not to go near and were evacuated. Then the transforming man came back, and a distortion in the space appeared! Like in a sci-fi movie! One of the men stepped out of it, and then they grabbed the girl and left through the portal! Amazing! Either this was a movie shooting, with tons of computerized effects, or this is... I don't know! But it is truly amazing! Shelly."

"Okay. More on that later. To see some pictures and more videos, go to /Mutantsighting. Next up: A new camera that turns people purple! It's called the Purrcam!"

"Turn it off, Sioux." I said. "Great. Now everyone knows about us."

10: Difference

"Uhhh-ohhh." IR said.

"Yeah. Uh-oh. Spaghetti." I said.

"Uhh." Xemnas scoffed. "Do you mean spaghetti-_ohs_?"

"Whatever! Something!" I stood. "Our next move: we kill everyone that saw it!"

"Uhh." Xemnas scoffed. "How do we kill _everyone_ that saw it?"

"I don't know!" I screamed. "Someway dramatic, like we always do! We rush into there like madmen, get almost dead, and then someone from one of our pasts will come out of nowhere and save us. Like we always do."

"And that gets us where?" Grosser asked.

I slumped back on the couch. "Huff. Why does everyone ask stupid questions?"

"Now, let us be underage and drunk!" Xemnas yelled and clapped. "Maid! Wine!"

A maid came in from the back kitchen with a tray on wheels. Several bottles of wine and whiskey were on it. "Master Luxord."

"Master Luxord?" I took a glass with something purple in it. "Who's that?"

"Tch!" Xemnas almost spilled his whiskey. "Uhh uhh... I don't know him. Nope!" He leaned to me and whispered. "It's my fake name for the maids and butlers. I don't want them to use my name for anything, yet know it. They call me Luxord."

"You're going to be arrested for giving underage children alcohol." I sipped the purple stuff. "That's good. Okay, I won't report you!"

"Cheers!"

The 'Mutant Children' report had made news across the world. I watched it in Italian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Puerto Rican, French, Turkish, Norwegian, Israli, Polish, and others with odd names I can't remember.

"But Xemnas-" I said. "Puerto Rican sounds like Spanish."

"Puerto Rican is slightly different than Spanish. More accent." He put pans away.

Of course, we were back at the castle. Why would he put dishes away in a jet? That's just stupid.

"And the Disney Land in Florida isn't Disney _Land_. It's called Disney _World_. Disney Land is in California." He laughed. "Just something random."

"I'm so bored." I stated.

"Then go with the others and rollerblade. Orrr... you could put on that bikini and go in the pool."

"Pool?" I gasped.

"Yes. Complete with jets, bubble jets, and temperature control."

I jumped off the counter. "Yaaaayyy!"

"Pool!" I pushed open the doors and yelped.

Nightmare and IR looked up. Sioux was sleeping on the floor. Again.

"What?" IR said. "Oh." They ran out.

"Yeah, thanks! My bikini is hot, I'm flattered!" I yelled back at them.

Okay, Xemnas said it was down the hall from the rollerblading gym. Uhh...

I poked at a door with letters on it. "Pah... pah-ooolah. Pohl." I sounded. "Pool!" Thank God for school. About a day of it, at least.

I stared at the huge pool. It was labled on the deck the depths, like a public town pool, except waaaayyy better. 4 to 11 feet. Sweet.

I shivered when someone poked me. "Xemnas! Stop scaring me!"

"What?" He taunted. "Afraid of getting your feathers wet?" He pushed me in violently.

"Oh my God!" I yelped as I splashed into the 6 feet deep end. "J-jerk! I can't say it's cold, though. Ugh." I raised my wings above.

He jumped in after me, splashing all over. "Hahahaaa! Aww, your poor whiddle feafers are wet. Lemme fix that." He splashed at me.

I splashed back and swam away. "G-go away! Oh my God!"

"We arrive!" Nightmare flung open the doors. He and IR were in adorable boyshorts that totally matched their personalities, Nightmare black and IR orange and black.

Sioux slumped in a one-piece. "They made me."

I glared at IR. He held his hands up. "Wasn't me."

Nightmare grinned.

I sighed. Sioux fell into a lounge chair. "I'm sleeping."

"Oh, no you d-" Xemnas started.

I held him back. "Wait till she's asleep." I whispered. "Then we'll throw her in!"

He laughed evilly.

Nightmare took the stairs. "Chilly."

I yanked him in. "Oh, it's warm!"

Mephisto cannonballed, and landed right beside me. I splashed at him. "Jerk!"

Then it turned into a splash war.

"Wait." I said and pointed to Sioux, sleeping.

Xemnas nodded. "The I'll go get Zaix... And maybe Grosser." He walked out and picked up Sioux. "One... Two..." She kept sleeping. "Three!" He yelled and chucked her into the water.

She screamed once she hit and splashed. "Oh my God! You jerks!"

Xemnas laughed and left to get the others.

"Ugh. It'll take me forever to dry." I complained.

"What about Sioux and I?" Nightmare went along.

Xemnas shrugged and fluffed his hair with a towel. "You could always use a hair dryer or something."

"Yeah? On feathers? Don't you read labels?" I said. "It says it's not tested on animals. Animals have feathers."

"Not dogs." Xemnas looked at Zaix.

"I'm not a dog!" He yelled. "I'm a wolf!"

"You still go woof woof." I said. "Your name is Doggy now."

"D-Doggy?"

"You call Professor Inukai Inu." IR said. "Inu means dog in Japanese."

"What? Uh, um... That's different." I said. "What am I supposed to call him, Daddy? That'd be awkward. I mean, I only met the guy, maybe a month ago."

"Hm." Xemnas said. "I could research where your mother is."

"What on? Facebook? What are you going to seach, 'Mother of Cat (No last name)'?"

"I could search Cat Prism."

"Noooo! Nooo, noo, noo, no. Are we married? I didn't think so." IR said.

I thought. "Would my last name be Inukai?"

"I dunno. Is the Professor's last name Inukai? Is his first name 'Professor'? Ooh, we will never know..." Xemnas said in a spooky voice.

"What's your last name?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "Does it matter? Maybe I don't... Hm. Xemnas... Organization? Nope. Xemnas... Thirteen?"

I glared at him. "That's my number!"

"Eh, I don't care. Call me Xemnas Xemnas for all I care."

"I smell like chlorine." I stated.

"Don't we all?" Sioux said.

I threw myself on one of the soft, cushioned lounge chair. "Alright. That's it. I'm sleeping in here."

"Fine. Don't matter to me." Xemnas said.

Grosser laughed. "That was fun."

"I'm in here tonight, too." IR said.

"Me three." Sioux was already half-asleep.

"Me five." Nightmare chuckled.

"Grosser?" Xemnas said.

"Why not?"

"Okay! We're all in here!" He yelled.

"Do we need to celebrate?" I asked. "Tch."

"Yes! Celebrating is vital!" Xemnas answered sarcasticly.

"Ugh." I sighed.

So. Everything was as it should be. We all had fun, and now we were sleeping next to a pool. In a castle.

Except that the media had caught us. And after that, nothing would be the same.

Nothing.

All because of Maximum Ride.

**End**

Next Installment...

Song-

Zen's Story

This isn't a regular installment! Join IR and Xemnas while they remember the past of the first Singer named Zen. Action and sadness packed into romance, fights, and newbie-ness. Find out how Xemnas and IR figured out, made, and fixed the Singer program. How Xemnas and IR came to meet and trust each other, and even how they befriended Venus! And while they think that a shadow lurks around in Com-Net, it's really someone else lurking around a future Singer...


End file.
